A Lamb in Wolf Clothing
by Phoenix S. Midnight
Summary: Edward leaves, but before he does he breaks Bella in the only way his Monster knows how. Alone, miles from home, and dying Bella finds life in the arms of pure heat. But she is not out of the woods yet, literally and figuratively. AU, some characters are OOC, Imprint story. Dark themes, rated M appropriately.
1. This Is What You Are For

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

 **A/N: Usually I would put my author's notes at the bottom of the work but I wanted this one to be the first thing readers saw when they began this fic. There are some MAJOR deviations from Canon Twilight, including family trees (for the Natives) and imprinting situations, other situations will become obvious in moments- so this is technically an Alternate Universe fic.**

 **This is** ** _also_** **an imprint story, but a decidedly dark and broken one. There** ** _will_** **be moments that could TRIGGER people who have issues with things like self-harm/mutilation, blood play, aggression, and non-con (not sex, but still!). I will have TRIGGER warnings before said chapters, as I know that this can be a serious issue for some.**

 **That being said, I hope you enjoy this fic and that you stick with me through it, as this has been bouncing around in my head for a while and I wish to see where the outline (finished, and already have quite a few chapters too!) will take me.**

 **Reviews, favorites, or follows are always welcome but will NEVER be required of you!**

 **Thank you, and now, please enjoy!**

 **PS: This work is NOT beta'd, I don't currently have one.**

 ** _TRIGGER WARNING: MUTILATION AND BLOOD PLAY IN THE FOLLOWING CHAPTER, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!_**

* * *

"No! This is about my soul, isn't it?!" Bella was furious, a new and curious feeling for the small girl. Her heart beat fast and angry against her chest- a noise she was sure that the pale and perfect man in front of her could hear. "Carlisle told me about that, and I don't care, Edward. I don't care! You can have my soul. I don't want it without you - it's yours already!"

Edward, perfection even in his barely focused form, breathed a deep and unneeded sigh. His mouth twisted in a way that Bella would almost have called _cruel_ had she not believed, fully, that this vampire in front of her was anything more than a creature of instincts and death.

When he looked back up at her, however, his liquid gold eyes had solidified and frozen in his face. Their harshness marring his otherwise perfect features in a cold mask.

"Bella, I don't want you to come with me." His eyes were cold as he watched the human's face, his voice low while the words dripped slowly from his mouth.

"You... don't... want me?" Bella sounded dumb even to herself as her countenance faltered. She had repeated his words in her head a few times before finding her voice, and now she very much wished she hadn't managed to do so. "Well, that changes things."

Edward began to talk then, Bella numbly ignored his words. _I don't want you to come with me._ Her mind repeated it on a loop. _I don't want you with me._ The promises from Arizona meant nothing, her hand unconsciously going to the mark of James, where her skin had reformed cold and stark against her already pale body. _I. Don't. Want. You._

Bella's head snapped up and in a flash of temper and righteous fury she began to hurl words at the man, _monster,_ who stood in front of her.

"How _dare_ you! How… How… How _dare you?!_ " Her voice sounded alien even to her, a force she didn't recognize began to boil under her skin. "You promise, you spoke such sweet words and promises in Arizona. To stay, to love me, to be there. Yet here we are, here _you_ are. The words finally crossed your perfect lips, didn't they?" Bella spit the words at him as she fumed. "You don't _want_ me. Is it anymore? Or did you ever? Was I nothing more than a distraction? Or a lesson in self-control?!"

Bella began to walk furiously past her now ex-boyfriend, the vampire standing there stunned for just a moment too long. She knocked him on accident in passing, the contact spreading fire and lightening through the undead man's body. The next time he opened his eyes, they were black.

Before Bella could get outside the tree line and back to her house, however, Edward grabbed her almost violently and covered her mouth to stop her scream. It never came, but still. Bella truly did have no sense of self-preservation. No _sane_ human would have thought to tempt and anger a vampire.

" _I will_ _ **show**_ _you just what you_ _ **were.**_ _"_ Edward's voice was venomous as he hissed in her ear before tearing off into the woods. He wanted no one to hear, see, or know of what he was about to do. And by the time he was done with this woman, this enigma he claimed to love, no one would be able to find her again. She would truly be broken; he would _ensure_ it.

Bella did not know how long Edward ran with her, the branches rubbing against her clothing and tearing at her skin and hair. Once he deposited the girl on the ground it felt like they weren't even in Washington anymore. In reality they had only ran a few miles, but to a mortal that distance at that speed felt like light years of space.

The vampire unceremoniously dumped the human to the ground as he reached down to her clothes. He ripped her pants off at the knees, stripping the material in his hands. He would _enjoy_ this. The monster within him had been all but _begging_ for it ever since he had first smelled that horridly addicting scent that was the blood that ran through the girl's veins.

Edward's humanity, what little was left, struggled hard with the monster within the Victorian man. For 106 or so he had one hell of a moral compass, or so he had believed. Carlisle would be very disappointed in this, but Edward knew he was a smooth enough liar that the monster within would be able to hide the fact the blood he was about to consume was Bella's.

Alice was going to be no problem either, thankfully, as his adoptive parents were planning another wedding and she was so wrapped in the designs and plans that Edward could outright _murder_ the girl before him **and** half of Forks before Alice noticed anything.

"Edward. Wha-" Bella began, only to be stopped by a cold hand covering her mouth. Her eyes widened and the smell of her fear permeated the air when she caught sight of his darkened black eyes. Emotionlessly the vampire stuffed a piece of her pant leg into her mouth and then bound it in place with another. The only noises to come forth now were grunts and scared moans.

The monster _bloomed_ at this new development. She finally felt fear, she _finally_ had a proper reaction. Too bad it was for the wrong side of Edward.

Quicker than the girl's eyes and brain could keep up she was lifted and tied to a tree. Her feet dangled a good three to six inches from the ground, her arms raised above her head. She was confused for a quick moment, wondering how he had managed enough material out of her pant legs until she felt the cold wind against her skin.

He had taken and stripped her coat as well. She was exposed, bound, and helpless to a monster. One that she had inadvertently let out of its prison with her words.

If Bella had the mindset to fear for her life, she would have begun at that moment. However, the only thoughts in her mind were of how _glad_ she was that Edward had her and only her. That no one else would hurt.

"You look like a lamb to the slaughter." Edward whispered in Bella's ear as he looked at her pale and shaking form. He leaned in closed and savored the smell of her; her fear mixed with the usual scent, as well as the faint hint of blood from small scratches that she'd received during transportation. "And your heart," He rest a frozen hand against her chest. "It's beating so fast, like a rabbit when it knows it's going to be eaten."

Bella glared at Edward, the only thing she could think to do to keep his interest in _only_ her. At least if she died, if he drank her dry and ran, no one else would pay. Charlie would be heartbroken, but people died in these forests all the time. And she was clumsy, and got lost easily. He would be heartbroken but he had family and friends to counter some of it.

Edward traced a nail down Bella's stomach, cutting the shirt and her skin. He inhaled the fresh scent and his eyes rolled back a little as the blood slowly dripped down her abdomen. He leaned into her ear and, with a cruel smile, whispered one last intelligible thought. "I'm going to enjoy this, my little sacrifice. I can see it in your eyes, sense it in your body. You are _offering_ this to me, aren't you?" His voice darkened. "You want me to spare the rest of the humans in town. You want me to spare Charlie, Jessica, and Angela. Don't you? Tell me the truth, Isabella, and I _may_ be gentle in this moment- my little lamb."

Bella could not talk, nor did she have the strength to make much noise, so she merely nodded her head violently. Edward smiled a cold and cruel smile, his fangs showing as he did so. This would be ever so much _more_ enjoyable now, knowing that the girl feared not for herself but for others. The selflessness would flavor the blood beautifully, like a wine aged in darkness with tender care.

He kneeled before her and began to lick the blood away from the wound. Releasing a bare minimum amount of his venom into his mouth he licked directly across the cut, it closed seconds after the venom touched it. The burn, however, of the venom did not go unfelt and the girl writhed in pain against the tree. Edward chuckled darkly.

 _This, this is what you are for._ His inner thoughts would have scared him at one point, but no longer. His cruel smile widening as he began his slow and luxurious torture of the Singer before him.

Bella began to scream then, but nothing heard. No one answered. Just the solid repetition of cut, lick, burn. Cut. Lick. Burn. The pain, something a clumsy girl like Bella was used to, began to overpower even her.

Finally, as the sky began to darken, peace came. Darkness began to claim her, reprieving her from the pain and blood.

Bella barely noticed the ties be removed, the gag pulled from her lax grip. Cold hands gentle now, a dark chuckle in the black.

His darkened eyes the last thing Bella saw as she finally gave up.


	2. Scents in the Woods

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

 ** _Semi-Trigger Warning:_** **There** ** _will be_** **talk of the injuries in the previous chapter, though not in too graphic of detail. Just letting my readers know!**

* * *

Charlie waited for Bella, a well written note on the table had let his fear subside for a while as she had merely wanted to take a walk after a rough day at school. He knew she was pretty directionally challenged but Bella wasn't a dumb girl. There was a trail right outside their backyard, and she would know to follow that and only that. She wouldn't have gone too far either, with as clumsy as she was there was no way that Bella would have ventured very far even on the well beaten trail.

If that was right, Charlie found himself wondering, then why did his gut tell him that something was _wrong_? What was this feeling in Charlie's stomach as it dropped further with each passing minute.

Finally, as the sky darkened and Bella had still not returned home, Charlie gave into his intuition and called the cavalry in to help him find his daughter. Picking up the home phone he made the first call of many, although it was highly likely this would be the only call he would need to make.

The call picked up on the second ring and a gruff voice answered with a nearly audible half-smile. "We aren't fishing until this weekend, old man." Billy Black's smile faltered in the silence after his statement. He knew that it was Charlie's house that called, ID and all that. But there was no sound on the other end. His voice became anxious. "Charlie?"

"She's gone, Billy." Charlie was usually a man of few words but he found himself nearly rambling this time. "Bella, she left a note about a walk in the woods. I know her, she wouldn't go too far on her own. She wouldn't be gone this long. I know Bella, I know my daughter…"

"Charlie, let me call Sam." Billy said with authority. "He will find Bella; I know he can. I will call him and then Jacob and myself will be over as soon as possible after." With that Billy hung up and Charlie began to make the other calls around town. He tried the listed Cullen number only to hear a message about the number no longer being in service.

 _What the hell is going on?_ Charlie thought as he rang his deputies next.

* * *

Once Billy was off the phone with Charlie he called out to Jacob and told his son to get dressed and prepare for a trip into Forks. Jacob questioned him for about half a second before Billy silenced him with a simple sentence:

"Bella is missing in the woods."

At those words, Jacob's usually tan face paled and he visibly flinched. The woods around here, at night especially, were never safe. There were too many animals in them. Too many predators. Jacob turned and rain a little clumsily to his room to get ready to find the girl he was already crushing on. Sure, he didn't see her much… but that mattered little to the young Native. He knew. In his gut, he knew.

Billy quickly called another number. The rough male voice that answered him seemed almost annoyed when they nearly barked "Young residence," at him.

"Sam. I know that you are probably tired, and that I have no right to ask this of you." Billy heaved a sigh. "But I know that you respect Charlie Swan, I know that many on the Rez see him as family."

"I know what you mean, Billy." Sam replied, his interest caught now. Jared and Paul, both younger males, perked their ears towards the phone in the background. "What are you asking, Billy? As a council member all you have to do is ask- you know that the Protectors are charged with protecting _all_ of the Quileute tribe, and that means those who have been accepted to us."

"Bella Swan, Charlie's daughter, do you know her?" Billy asked, hoping that the fact that not only was it Charlie's kin but also a female would help with the decision only Sam could make.

He could still refuse to help.

"Yes, I have seen her around. Is she not dating one of the Cullen leeches?" Sam's voice bristled. If Billy was asking this he had to wonder, had the treaty been violated? Were they looking for a girl, a corpse, or a new leech?

"She has disappeared. In the woods." That was all Billy had to say before Jared and Paul were both on their feet in the background and out the door- shedding clothes as they went.

"We will find her. Where will you be?" Sam's voice was tight. He remembered Bella from when she was younger. She and Jake had been very close as children and she had always had a light. A little too _old_ for her age, but still, there was a fire there that he was hoping had not gone out.

"The Swan house." Billy replied as Jake yelled to his dad in the background to hurry off the phone. The teen was anxious.

"When we find her we will look for you there." Sam cut the call short and followed his two pack mates out the door. The younger wolves were already phased and waiting. They needed their Alpha to help them coordinate a search, even wolves needed to be organized.

* * *

 **Jared:** _Sam! What happened? The girl, Bella, wasn't she_ _ **dating**_ _one of those treaty leeches?!_

 **Sam:** _Yes, she… was?_ Sam's voice held a deep timber even in his mind, he was unsure of where to start to look for her but they needed to run to the Swan house first, at least from there they could look and not be worried about the humans if they ran fast. _Paul, please run left flank. Jared run my right. I will take a straight shot to the Swan house. Smell for the treaty leeches, a leech you don't recognize, or a human. You know what Charlie smells like, and his daughter would have a scent somewhat like her father._

Paul made a small nod before he ran off to the left side of Sam, Jared hesitated before nodding and running to the right. There were only three of them, and seven treaty leeches. Jared was unsure if they would win a fight _together,_ let alone separated.

 **Paul:** _Why are we searching for a leech fucker anyway?_

 **Sam:** _Because even though he's had to haul_ _ **your**_ _ass into lock up a couple times Charlie is still part of the Rez. They call him for anything that requires Police, him and him only. Billy trusts him, as do I. And I will be damned if we leave his daughter in these woods alone and dying… or worse._

 **Jared:** _Am I the_ _ **only**_ _one here hoping that maybe she will be okay? Or is this pessimistic crowd the wrong place to be right now?_

Jared was always known for trying to keep Sam and Paul from becoming too cynical when they were around each other. Sam was level headed, much more so then when he had originally phased, and kept his cool in most situations. He was a piss poor strategist, though, when it came to fighting. Paul, however, was very **good** at fighting and at planning attacks. Jared was the balance between the two. He could fight, he could be calm.

The wolves had been running just barely in the tree line when they arrived at the Swan house. There was a steady trickle of humans arriving but none in the woods yet. That was a plus for them because it allowed the wolves a quick moment to scent the area before deciding just what direction to go in.

 **Sam:** _Damn! This entire area smells like one of those leeches!_ Sam growled low, thankfully low enough that the group of humans on the edge of the woods did not hear him. They had yet to even shine lights into the trees, a small favor. _He must have run all around here- to confuse tracking dogs or the Police._

 **Paul:** _Just what is that leech trying to hide?_ His eyes narrowed as his nose picked up a different scent among the acrid chemical smell of rotting death. Within moments, and without Alpha approval, he launched himself forward on the trail of this scent.

It was encapsulating the silver/grey wolf. A mixture of honey and spices, it smelled beautiful. That _must_ have been the girl- there was nothing else that could make a smell this complex other than a human.

 **Sam:** _Paul! What are you doing!?_

 **Jared:** _Follow him, Sam! He's onto something, I smell it now too. Can't you? A soft smell… like spiced peaches or green tea with honey. It's feminine. It_ _ **has**_ _to be the girl!_

 **Paul:** _Flank me Jared, Sam. The leech smell is still heavy. We may not be alone, and I want to be able to get this motherfucker if he still has her._

 **Sam:** _Usually I would be giving orders, but you make sense. Run ahead, we will watch your sides._

The wolves ran for nearly a full minute. The scent twisted and turned in multiple places, as if the leech had carried whoever made it over the changes in trail. To confuse trackers. He was thinking about humans, however, and not the wolves of the Tribe.

 _Why would he?_ Paul thought as the scent of spices and honey grew again. He stopped, there were three paths here- all of them decently strong.

 **Sam:** _Split. Paul take the middle, I'll run left and Jared to the right. Watch for leech._

Paul dug his nails into the ground and launched himself again, this time with a growl. This was becoming frustrating. The leech may not have been specifically thinking about the wolves when he made these trails but he was smart. And it was eating at Paul to have to admit that a leech had managed to think about something semi-correct.

Suddenly there was a new scent on the air. He could feel both Jared and Sam but neither tensed like he did. Paul knew that smell, he knew it _very_ well. And instantly he screamed into his pack mind.

 _BLOOD!_

Paul began to run even faster to the scent. It was growing and becoming something close to intoxicating, the smell of honey and spices topped with the coppery smell of blood and life. The rotting stench of chemical death, left behind by the leech, was the only thing to mar the smell that wound its way into Paul's senses.

A light beating, so faint he wasn't even sure he heard it, found its way to his ears. His own heart began to beat faster and adrenaline pumped hard and fast in his veins. _She was alive! Barely, but this was life!_

Once he found the girl, slumped in front of a tree, Paul found himself instantly phasing back to human. He threw the shorts that he had tied to his leg (a good idea from Jared, for once) as he ran to the girl.

Her pants had been torn off at the knees, her shirt was tatters from the bottom of her breasts and down to her pants, if she had been wearing a coat it was gone. The remnants of clothes the girl _was_ wearing all had blood stains on them. But the initial sight he saw was not the most jarring thing about this moment- it was merely the tip of the iceberg. There was much more damage beneath the surface, Paul could smell it and almost feel it. The girl wasn't turning, but there was something very wrong with her.

And then he saw them.

 _The girl was literally_ _ **covered**_ _in white, pale,_ _ **fresh**_ _scars._ Paul reached out and touched the longest one on her stomach and it felt cold- he wrenched his hand back as the girl hissed and tried to cry out. She barely had any energy, she was dying of hypothermia, and he was the warmest thing around. Paul could hear Jared and Sam coming, but she needed him now.

Wincing at the touch of the scars on the girl he gathered her body up as delicately as he could and held her to his overheated, and naked, chest. Her eyes bolted open at the contact and the terrified girl looked up at the Native who was holding her. Her eyes, not fully focused and barely alive, trailed a line up his arm and shoulder to his face and finally, his own eyes.

Paul gasped as he met the girl's eyes. The entire world shifted in that moment, the pull to the scent made complete sense now as everything that had once tethered the Wolf to the world became the girl in his arms. He pulled her closer on instinct when he heard the approach of others.

"Paul," Sam said as he held his hands out. Usually Sam wasn't one to be submissive- to anyone or anything. He rarely submitted in such a way even to Emily, and she was his love and imprint. "Paul, we aren't going to take her from you- but I need to look at her."

Paul twitched for a moment before grinding his teeth and leaning the body in his arms outward, so the girl was facing his two pack mates. The hair on the back of his neck bristled and his eyes widened as he watched both Jared _and_ Sam be unable to look away from the mostly dead eyes of the barely breathing girl in his lap.

Growls erupted from Paul, a noise which scared the girl he was holding into choked tears. She could barely breathe- let alone cry.

"Paul!" Sam yelled, his voice deepening. " **You will calm down until we get Bella to safety.** "

"You. Just. Imprinted. On. My. Imprint." Paul growled through clenched teeth, the girl in his arms began to push away from him and he held her closer. When she began to cry again, begging a barely coherent 'please…' into Paul's chest he immediately leaned his mouth down to her ear. "Relax, little Swan. I won't hurt you. Stay awake for me, but know I will not hurt you."

Sam made an instant snap decision. "Take her to my house. Jared, run ahead since Paul will not be able to phase and carry her that way- he will be slower than you by a couple minutes. Warn Emily that this is _bad_ and that we will need Sue and Harry Clearwater. I will gather Billy from Charlie's house and bring him."

"How are we going to explain taking her to the Rez?" Jared asked as Paul stood, Jared was taking his shorts off again and tying them to his leg. "Charlie will question the hell out of that one, Sam."

Sam reached forward and ripped Bella's shirt completely off her. He winced at the obvious discomfort such touches caused the frail girl, and his heart ached to fix what he had caused.

"I'll take this, it is bloody and ripped. We can lie, she is barely conscious- I'm unsure she'll even make it to my house-" Paul instantly began to growl angrily. "Paul, relax, I'm being honest. I don't like those words any more than you do." Sam looked back at Jared and continued. "I will lie and say we followed a trail of broken branches into a clearing just on the other side of the treaty line, Rez land. Charlie will understand us taking her to the _closest_ clinic and Sue is one hell of a secret keeper. Any other doc would question all the scars- if they even manage to see them." Sam took a deep breath and gestured towards the Rez- for even in the middle of the woods he knew which way was home. "Now go, and fast!"

Jared phased into a wolf on a jump and was off. Paul, gingerly carrying the precious girl in his arms, started off after him. Sam took a breath, he was about to lie to the Chief of Police, a man who he greatly admired. This was not going to be easy for the Alpha male. He only hoped Emily would be able to help Sue patch the girl up.

Phasing and running back towards the Swan house, Sam moved lithely in the dark to avoid the humans who were now searching. He would have to run around to show up from the other side of the houses, to seem like he came from the Rez.

 _Hopefully in all the excitement it would go unnoticed that he would have no vehicle._


	3. Rotting From the Inside Out

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

"Come on, little Swan. Breathe for me." Paul begged the lightly moaning girl in his arms. Her breaths were coming in short bursts, her heart beat fast and frantic. She was dying, and it was not painless. Paul could almost feel the venom in his _own_ skin as he ran. The girl was positively covered in it, had to have been. Those cuts were fresh- by their smell no more than a few hours old. Vampire venom would be able to close a would like that in much the same way as his own saliva.

The only upside to his saliva would be that it wouldn't end up killing the girl. The venom was probably what was killing her. Slowly rotting her from the inside out.

 _And she was_ _ **covered** __in it._

As Paul rounded the last corner in the forest before it thinned out into Sam's back yard he saw Jared phase again and run the edge of the woods towards the settlement. He was probably rushing to get something Emily had asked of him. Or Sam had called him- Paul couldn't know unless he phased and he was not leaving the girl, Bella… _his_ Bella alone.

That brought his mind to the moment in the woods. Sam had alpha ordered him calm, but he had not ordered Paul not to think of it. Sam, Jared, _and_ Paul himself had imprinted on the pale girl. Which wouldn't mean much except Sam already _had_ an imprint! The thought of two imprints on a single wolf had never been heard of, neither had the idea of a multiple wolf imprint on a single human.

 _What was going on?!_

Paul ran the girl into Emily and Sam's house only to find that Emily had been a busy bee in the few minutes, at most, that she had spent with Jared before he had arrived. The table had been cleaned off and the trauma kit, from back when Sam had wanted to be a Paramedic before phasing, was out. The tools were still in their packages but Emily was setting the room up as best she could.

The squealing of tires in the driveway pushed Paul out of his thoughts and he gently laid the girl on the table. Emily looked like she was going to be sick- her eyes clawing over the pale skin marked with what looked like _hundreds_ of venom sealed wounds.

"She isn't going to make it." Emily whispered, only to earn a loud growl from Paul. Emily gasped as she looked from the girl on the table to the wolf who still had not fully let her go. Her mind raced as she tried to think clearly in the current moment. Then it clicked. _Oh no._ Emily's shoulders slumped a little as she looked sadly to Paul. She reached a hand out as if to comfort him and then drew back, thinking better of it. "Sue will do her best, Paul. But you are going to have to let her work- you know this right?"

"I will let her work, but I am not letting go of my little Swan." Paul said through clenched teeth. His muscles were so tight he thought that he was going to faint from the sheer pressure under his skin. Where was Jared when you needed his attempts at laughter. That brought Paul back to Emily. "Where did Jared go?"

"He went to seek out the record keeper, she will be able to shed light on this… interesting development." Emily said meekly as a new voice entered the dining room. It was Sue and she was already barking orders at the imprint and the wolf.

"You, Paul, I need space to work!" Sue said as she bustled around, throwing a bag down and grabbing a gown, gloves, and sanitizer out of it. "Emily, please fill in the missing tools with my own. I don't know what is needed but we need to be prepared for any eventuality here."

"Yes, Sue." Emily said as she rushed to the bag. Looking back at Paul- who Sue was going to yell at again- she stopped the fight before it could begin. "Paul just imprinted on the girl. All of the boys did. He is not going to leave her, let alone fully let go of her. You will have to work around him."

Sue let out a rather large huff but nodded as she donned the gown, sanitized her hands, and pulled the gloves over her hands. Small light in hand she went about the typical checks on the girl.

Hypothermia, severe. Her body temperature needed to be raised _now_ or it wouldn't matter what else Sue did. Looking at the wolf, a space heater in and of himself, and smiled ruefully. This wasn't going to be easy.

"How much weight can this table hold, Emily?" Sue said as she thought quickly. "Could it support both this girl and Paul completely?" Emily blushed and mumbled something that almost made Paul laugh, but sadly Sue could not hear her. "Repeat that, louder! Time is of the essence; can this table support them?!"

"It can support Sam and myself doing a lot of… moving… so yes, it should support them. Paul is smaller than Sam and she is most definitely smaller than me- if only a little." Emily wasn't being vain with the last addition; she wasn't even sure why she had said it. Could she be jealous? Sam _did_ imprint on the girl, yet he had already on her. Their tug felt no less, but could this girl be meant to take her place?

Sue whipped her head back to Paul in such a fashion it almost gave the young wolf a start. He had been so focused on the girl in his arms that he was unprepared for Sue's words and poke to his shoulder.

"Make yourself useful!" She tapped him. "This girl is freezing to death, even here. Her temperature needs to be raised. You're not burning for nothing, use it!"

"Bella." Paul mumbled as he gingerly climbed onto the table.

"What?" Sue said as she continued her checks on the impromptu patient.

"Her name. It's Bella."

"Oh Spirits." Sue said as she took another look at the pale brunet on the table. "Not Bella _Swan_?"

Paul could only nod as a single tear fell down his face. Sue renewed her vigor and set to work again. She was _not_ going to lose the child of one of her and her husband's best friends. She was _not_ going to let Charlie down.

Bella would live. No matter what Sue had to do.

* * *

Miles away Sam phased and ran up to Billy's wheel chair. He was sitting next to the Chief, a usually stoic man who currently was literally exuding anxiety and fear in waves. Sam looked around to see the little Alpha, although the poor kid didn't know it, standing with Embry Call and Quil Ateara. Sam narrowed his eyes at the group but quickly dismissed it. There wasn't much leech smell here and none of them seemed to be reacting to it.

The boys were also rather small; they had not begun to bulk up like they should were they beginning the steps to phasing. At least that was a little weight off of his already breaking shoulders. Turning to Billy, who had seen him approaching and saw the tattered rag in his hand.

"Sam." Billy wheeled himself forward. "What is that?" He pointed to what had once been a full shirt. His eyes became wide when he realized just what the wolf was holding. Charlie noticed in the same moment and fell forward onto his knees with a sob- he reached for the cloth. "Is she?" Billy tried to remain calm since Charlie couldn't.

"Jared, Paul, and I were on our way here when we noticed something unfamiliar." Sam was thinking quickly and thankfully didn't have to fully lie. There _was_ a spot along the highway to the Rez that had recently been disturbed. It had been by a wolf but they had destroyed the paw prints and the area could now pass for a car and human tracks. "There was a place that the woods were disturbed. We stopped immediately and got out to investigate as the situation here hadn't been confirmed to us yet."

Billy could see in Sam's eyes the slight lie, and thought better than to question the wolf in front of Charlie. Later for sure, but not now. "Continue, Sam." Jacob had walked up in the moments the older male had been talking, a small sneer on his face. Jacob's feelings about Sam and his 'cult' were well known, especially since Paul had phased and shocked most of the Rez.

"Not too far into the woods we found a body, Paul initially thought they weren't alive. But she made a noise. Bella is alive, although hurt." Sam took a breath and began the lie in earnest. "Since we were closer to the Rez by miles we took her to Sue Clearwater. Thankfully she had not come here, and was readily available. Sue and Emily are with her now, as is Paul and Jared."

Sam conveyed with his eyes the importance of keeping Charlie _off_ the reservation for the night. Billy thought of something as quick as he could and whistled loudly, the din of the searchers died down instantly.

"Bella has been found. Attacked, although we don't know where. She was left in the woods off the road to the Rez. Deputies!" Billy barked, Charlie was still staring at the shirt and too shocked to speak. "Take your cars to where Sam leads you, I will get him when my son and I come back through. Do **_not_** let anyone disturb the sight of whatever this is."

The deputies began to hesitate. Billy was respected, he was an elder and a council member of the Quileute tribe, but he wasn't their Chief.

Charlie swallowed and stood, his legs shaky. "Do your jobs. I can't be involved, we all know that."

The deputies then ran off to their cars. They raced away sirens blaring, Billy almost laughed when he realized that they had left Sam behind. Sam merely rolled his eyes. The disturbance was visible from the road but that didn't excuse their inability to listen to the older Native.

"Charlie. I must return to the Rez, to oversee what will have to become an investigation to ensure the safety of my people. Will you be alright here?" Billy knew the answer but hadn't wanted to outright say anything for fear of upsetting his longtime friend. Charlie shook his head with another broken sob.

"As much as I want to see her I can't. She needs to speak to a deputy first, minor or not. She and I signed all of that paperwork when she got here, allowing her to be her own adult in a situation like this… I work so much, and I can't always be.. be… here…" His voice choked off at the end and Billy reassuringly patted Charlie's back.

"Jacob." Billy called to his son, who bounded forward as the other people began to file past them. Some said their condolences to Chief Swan, some just left in shocked silence. Forks was a quiet town, or it _had_ been. "Will you please stay here with Charlie tonight? He can bring you to the Rez tomorrow when he comes to collect Bella. I am sure she will need to stay in the clinic overnight. And…"

"He shouldn't be alone." Jacob nodded, looking at Embry and Quil. "I can do that, dad." Jacob looked again at his friends, Quil was already being called by his parents. Embry, it seemed, had texted someone and looked up at Jacob with a nod. "Can Embry stay as well? Two heads and sets of hands are better than one- we can keep Chief Swan company together."

Billy thought for a moment and replied deeply. "Will your parents mind, Embry?"

"I just messaged them, no they won't. Mom will call the school tomorrow and let them know what is going on. I want to help, Billy." Embry said as he puffed his chest out a little, a show of self-importance. "I can help here, Billy."

"Then I shall return here for you boys tomorrow." Billy began to wheel himself to the vehicle as more Forks residents walked up to Charlie to offer their condolences and to ask about the possible attack on Bella. "Sam, let's go. Our people need us."

Sam immediately began to push Billy towards the car faster than he was wheeling himself. Upon reaching the vehicle the young werewolf looked around and tossed caution to the wind by picking up Billy and placing him in the seat without even a grunt of effort. The older Native felt like he weighed less than a feather.

Climbing into the other side of the car after quickly folding and storing the chair Sam breathed a breath of relief. He could feel a great pull to his home. In fact, he could feel two. One was strong, unwavering, and he knew it was the pull of his love Emily. The other one was softer and it flickered, like a candle trying to stay alight in the wind, and Sam realized that it was the pull to Bella,

 _He_ _ **had**_ _imprinted on Bella._ Sam thought to himself, rubbing his hand on his neck. _That had happened, it wasn't a dream._

"What really happened?" Billy asked as the two pulled away from the Swan house, a thick silence filling the air between the two men.

 _"Bella is dying."_ Were the only words Sam could choke out.


	4. Cryptic Tales, Wrong Questions

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

Billy looked taken aback at Sam at his exclamation. The elder was confused as to just _how_ the young Wolf, who had rarely had any interaction with the girl before tonight, could know in such certain terms that she was dying. What had happened in those woods?

What was Sam hiding?

"I'm sure she will pull through, Sam." Billy said as he looked towards the road again pensively. "She is a fighter, even If she is small."

"She's covered in venom-healed cuts from that _leech_." Sam clenched his jaw so hard he actually worried that it would break. Not that a broken jaw would be anything other than a small inconvenience to him, but it was still the principle of the thing. "It looks like he repeatedly cut her open and then sealed the wounds with his venom, trapping some of it inside her body."

"Is she-?" Billy couldn't finish the question that died on his tongue. He wouldn't think like that, he _couldn't._

"There's no evidence of a change happening, if that legend is true. We can't be sure, however, since it's not exactly like we've ever left a leech alive long enough to ask them just how they create more of their kind." Sam growled a little at the lack of information available. The council did what they could- especially Old Quil- but it was still incomplete information. Sometimes there was no information.

"Where is she?"

"I had Paul take her to my house. Sue Clearwater was called immediately and should be with her by now working whatever magic she has to save the girl. Bella." Sam found himself correcting his own speech when he called Bella 'the girl,' it seemed his wolf didn't like the man making Bella seem insignificant.

"You keep using her name, Sam." Billy narrowed his eyes at the young wolf. "You use very few women's names, and when you do it is usually her last name. Yet you have called Isabella 'Bella,' not 'Swan' or the 'Chief's Daughter' like many would have."

Sam heaved a heavy sigh. The air being brought into his body felt colder than ice and heavier than a handful of steel. He knew that this talk was unavoidable and he also knew, just _knew,_ that every council member would come on their own to get their take on the events of this night- Sam just wished he could spare himself and his Pack that.

"Paul managed to pick Bella's scent out from the overlapping leech smells, it was smart enough to run all around the area. It created multiple tracks and Bella's scent was faint beneath all of them- I actually missed it myself until Paul and Jared ran after it." Sam felt terrible now, especially with the unidentified imprint so close to the front of his mind. "Paul got to the girl before Jared or I did although I suspect it wasn't by long. When we got there the first thing that I remember seeing was the shock on Paul's face. He was looking at Bella as if there was nothing else, no one else, around."

"He imprinted?" Billy cut in quickly in a stern voice. "On Bella?"

"It would appear that way, yes." Sam replied quietly. "But there is more. When Paul allowed Jared and I to take a look at the girl there was a brief moment that neither Jared nor I could look away from her eyes. They were nearly black from her being so far gone but that wasn't the reason I couldn't look away." Sam paused for a quick moment, steeling himself for what was to come. "I couldn't look away because I imprinted on her as well. And from his thoughts I honestly believe Jared did as well."

"But you already have Emily?" Billy's voice was more questioning than concerned.

"It's not romantic like Emily. The pull is strong, the want to protect her is there, but it doesn't tear at my very soul the way my connection to Emily does when we are apart." Sam flinched a little as both connections tugged at him, anxiety spiking in his body. "She is more… more of a _daughter_ in feeling than a lover or even a friend. I suspect, due to being closer in age and not having an Alpha involved that Jared's connection with the girl is most likely one of a sibling- an older brother."

"This is unheard of in any of the legends I have ever read." Billy let out a rush of air as his chest tightened a bit. "Perhaps the Keeper could shed some light on this situation, she knows more than any of us. So all of you imprinted on her? That won't go over well with Old Quill, and perhaps even Harry. They're both pretty… old fashioned… when it comes to Quileute traditions and bloodlines."

Sam winced. He hadn't even thought about the people on the Council. He'd known that Billy would be alright about it- but he was a moderate, nearly progressive, when it came to things like the traditions. Old Quill, Harry, and especially the widow Akil were rather conservative. Staunch about it even.

"That didn't even hit my brain yet, Billy. I won't lie, my mind has been on many other things than what the council would do about this situation." Sam sighed heavily. The council was a small group that consisted of his father Joshua, Billy, Old Quill, Harry, and the widow Akil but they held the power in the reservation. Billy may be the chief but his power was backed by that of his council. "There isn't anything they can do about the imprint… is there? As in, they won't be able to deny Paul his right to his mate… can they?"

"Only the Keeper would know such knowledge, son." Billy's response was slow and sad. "But if memory serves, yes they can. If the council deems a mate too dangerous to be around the pack or with the tribe I do believe the council can order the denial of the imprint. It has, to my recollection, only been used once- in a long forgotten tale about the protectors."

"If it's long forgotten then how do you know it?" Sam's eye brow raised with the question, a smile lighting his features for the first time since this hellish nightmare began.

"I was a young man once too, Sam Uley. And when I was I spent a lot of time with the Keeper, since it was my blood right to be Chief someday. I also would have been Alpha- should the need have arisen for the Protectors to be called upon." Billy smiled ruefully. "I should have started to send Jacob to her this year but with his impending change I have waited- he will understand more once he has become one with his land and his tribe in a way that I never did."

"Well hopefully at least two people in the council will, or should, oppose the possibility of cutting Paul off from his imprint." Sam bristled a bit. He understood that Joshua had come back and that he had been actively trying to make up for past wrongs but there as little the man felt for his sire beyond a want to ignore his presence as best as possible.

Billy leered at the younger man for a moment. He understood the issues between father and son- the entire reservation knew about the wounds that Joshua Uley left in his wake when he had abandoned his son and wife. There were also whispers about Embry Call, especially since the young man had begun the signs of the change to a wolf. Embry shouldn't be able to change- not to say that he isn't a good kid. He wasn't Quileute, or so many had thought.

"How do you feel about that? Your dad… being back, rebuilding relationships… being on the Council." Billy was as careful as he could be as he talked, he didn't want to set the young Wolf off- and even with control like Sam's slip ups could happen at any time.

"I'm indifferent. He is no father to me." Sam replied through lightly clenched teeth. He gunned the gas a little as he tried to speed through to his home. There was a feeling in his gut that something was wrong. Terribly wrong.

* * *

Paul lay on the table with Bella holding her as close as both her injuries and Sue would allow. Her heartrate had evened out at least, which was something in favor of a good outcome. Sue's furrowed brow, however, was worrying the young wolf. What did she know that she wasn't sharing with him and Emily?

And where the hell were Sam and Jared?!

Sue was bustling around the table requesting help from Emil whenever she required assistance. They had managed to set up an IV drip with saline solution. The girl needed a blood transfusion but without her father's consent, or a living donor this late in the game, she was not going to make it through the night.

"We have a problem, Emily." Sue said as she looked at the slide that was beneath her microscope. "I had _hoped_ that I was wrong the first time but I wasn't. Bella is O- and she desperately needs blood."

Emily's eyes died a little as that information broke through her haze. O- blood was rare in all races, but it was nearly impossible to get in such a remote area without a donor.

"I'll call Chief Swan, he gave Sam his number a few months ago after issues with Paul." Emily all but ran to the phone and began to dial a number she desperately wished she didn't even have to use. It rang twice before a rather familiar voice picked up on the other end.

 _"Swan residence."_ The young but sad voice of Jacob Black said through the phone. Emily blanched a little. _Shit._

"Jacob? Is the Chief there? I am here with Sue Clearwater and we need to know Bella's blood type. The tests we have show O-."

 _"Charlie, Sue needs to know if Bella's blood type is actually O- or not."_ Jacob asked, muffled speech could be heard in the background. _"He said yes, apparently she got it from Renee."_

"Thank you Jacob." Emily hung up before the kid could ask any questions. If the Chief had questions then Emily would gladly answer them when he called back. "That test is right, Sue… She is O- and apparently got it from her mother?"

"That's a problem, Emily. I can't get a hold of that kind of blood for days, and even then I would _have_ to take her to an actual hospital and report this. She would die before the government even got her to experiment on!" Sue huffed. "Do we know of _anyone_ on this reservation who we could trust enough to give us blood?"

Paul's brain finally caught up with the situation as the girls began to discuss whether or not they knew anyone with the blood type in question. He began to wish that he had paid more attention in science class as he couldn't really remember why Bella's blood type was such an issue. Blood was blood right?

Apparently not.

"I have O- blood." Paul said with a small clearing of his throat. "Don't you remember that Sue? You and Dr. Whitehawk insisted that we all get our blood tested once we became wolves. Something about checking to see whether or not that shit changed when we did."

"Paul!" Emily admonished the young wolf for his language. "I realize Sam doesn't mind your mouth but you will respect Sue."

"It's fine, Emily." Sue held her hand up and worried the inside of her cheek with her teeth. Paul _did_ have 0- blood, she remembered that now. But he was a wolf, and his blood structure had changed just enough that it wasn't fully human anymore. And the girl, Bella, was _covered_ in newly healed cuts- a feat only possible by use of a vampire's venom according to Paul. How would vampire venom and wolf blood react in a human body?

 _Would Bella survive that fight?_

A moan from the table and Paul's tightening arms around the form in them made her mind up for her. Bella _needed_ the blood, just as Charlie would _need_ his daughter to survive.

"Paul, pick her up very carefully. Emily please grab and hold the IV bag higher than Bella in his arms. Get in the back of my van, we need to go to the clinic. I will call Dr. Whitehawk on the way." Sue grabbed the few tools she would need and packed them into her bag as she pulled out her cellphone.

Once the wolf, his imprint, and Emily left the house they were met with the sight of Billy Black's car rounding the road at a near break neck speed with Sam driving. The duo of conscious natives continued their trek to the van, however, knowing that one or both of the men would ask questions.

"Where are you taking Bella?" Sam asked in a rough voice as he parked with a rolled down window. "I thought Sue was here."

"She is, Sam. But Bella needs blood. We need the clinic." Emily carefully leaned into the window enough to kiss her imprint. "Take Billy to his house, please, and then phase and run to the clinic. Jared isn't back from the Keeper yet, but you should be able to catch him when he leaves. We have to go quickly."

Emily turned and climed into the van just as Sue, who had come out directly behind the woman and wolf, started the vehicle and pulled away from the cabin near the woods. Sam followed the clinic van from his driveway and turned the opposite way on the main road- towards his tribal Chief's house. His chest tightened as he drove further and further from his love and the young girl who was truly beginning to feel like a daughter.

* * *

Jared stood in front of the woman who was weaving threads by firelight. Her cabin, little more than a shack, was far beyond the normal track of a human's path. She was rarely seen at Council meetings and even rarer were her appearances in town or at bonfires.

She was as old as the sky itself, or so children told each other to frighten their friends about the old reclusive woman who lived wild in the woods.

"Keeper, I don't understand." Jared said as he bit at his bottom lip hard enough to draw blood. "You keep repeating yourself, talking of prophecies and powers beyond my control, but it makes no sense. I need to help the Pack, I need to help the girl, and I need your help to do both."

 _"You have received my help, young wolf."_ The woman's otherworldly voice said as she continued to weave, her eyes never leaving her work although Jared was pretty sure she was blind if her white pupils meant anything. _"The girl is important to the pack. She has a role to play in the future, just as you do. Remember my words well, wolf, when you tell your Alpha. Without her sacrifice the Pack will surely die, as will the people of the Quileute tribe."_ The woman's words, no less cryptic than before, began to nearly enrage Jared into phasing. A sharp look from the older woman changed that. _"If you must change skins do so outside. Go back to your pack, young one. There is little_ _ **you**_ _can learn from me. When the right question is asked by the One Who Will Know then the answer will come."_

Jared growled and ran from the cabin, barely stopping to strip his shorts off before he exploded in a ball of skin and fur. Usually it took him a moment to phase but this time, with this anger, it was much easier to become one with his wolf and change forms.

 **Jared:** _Cryptic words, old woman! They do us no good!_

 **Sam:** _What are you talking about Jared?_

If a wolf could pale, Jared would have. He hadn't realized that anyone else was phased in to the Pack mind, let alone his Alpha. Picking up his shorts in his mouth and heaving his large paws against the ground he took off back towards the main reservation.

 **Jared:** _It is a long story, Sam. Apparently I am not the One Who Would Know and I don't know the right question._ Jared's mind voice was even growling, but he shook it off and kept running.

* * *

 _A/N: Thank you to all who have read and reviewed this story! I know that there are a **lot** of changes to Canon Twilight (and honestly I much prefer it that way, I wasn't ever Team Jacob but never liked how quickly she forgave Edward either...) Anyway! I wanted to clear a couple things up about this chapter in particular, okay?_

 _1\. Sam's father **has** come back in this fic. He **is** part of the tribe and he **has** been working at righting the wrongs of his past. He will come in to play later, but I don't wish to give away much now!_

 _2\. The Keeper, the Widow Akil (pronounced Ah-Kil and it is a Quileute word meaning Bear, there should be a dash above the A but I cannot remember how to make it!), and Dr. Whitehawk_ ** _are_** _original characters and do obviously have roles to play. Conspiracy theories are welcome, just saying._

 _3\. Bella's blood type is **never** actually said in the books, and yes I checked everything I could find._

 _That's all as far as things I wanted to clear. I just want to thank those of you who have been so patient as I wrote this chapter. I couldn't find good places to make the cuts I needed to make so it actually ended up being a little shorter than I wanted but this works as it is written._

 _This work is **still**_ _lacking a Beta Reader so if you find any issues you are more than welcome to tell me and I will fix ASAP! Thank you!_


	5. Life and Death in Blood

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

 ** _Semi-Trigger Warning: There will be descriptions of physical pain, a flashback to the first chapter in more detail. Just letting my wonderful readers know!_**

* * *

 _Bella had long since lost the ability to feel anything more than the pain in her skin. It was like fire crawling through her veins, screaming to get out through every fast healed cut on her body. She no longer could count how many Edward had left in his assault on her skin._

 _"Feel that, Isabella?" Edward whispered darkly against her neck as he lightly caressed it with his nails. Even the soft touch left small and shallow cuts across what had been before unmarred skin. The blood that dripped down was grotesque against her paling skin- not that she hadn't already been pale before. "Do you feel that?"_

 _Edward growled the second question and gripped her jaw, waiting for an answer. Bella couldn't muster the strength to make a noise without screaming, and she refused to give the monster she had once called a love satisfaction. Bella merely nodded in response, her jaw all but breaking at the force in which he held it._

 _"Oh, too afraid to make noise? Afraid you'll scream for me?" Edward's laugh was cynical and harsh. "There's no one else to hear you, pet. So you can scream all you want, I promise I won't tell a soul." He scratched his hand down her thigh while licking the wounds on her neck that had already ceased to bleed. "Since you can feel it, though, I should tell you to relish in it. That pain you're feeling, the fire that's making you go stiff with anguish… It will all end soon. Either you'll die from blood loss or your body will endure to become a vampire."_

 _Edward chuckled as thoughts ran through his mind of a blood starved newborn Bella wreaking havoc on the little town of Forks. Perhaps she'd even manage to kill her father before she was satiated- the guilt from that would live to haunt her for the rest of her immortal days._

 _That thought made the monster inside him smile with endless glee. The fraction of humanity that Edward had retained throughout his undead half-life flinched even further into the darkness of his minds recesses- possibly never to return again._

 _Licking the cuts on Bella's thighs Edward straightened, the hairs on the back of his neck raised. Light was fading fast and Charlie's cruiser had long since driven down the road to the house. That had been the only real advantage of where he had brought her; it was on a hill overlooking the road so Edward had seen Charlie arrive home._

 _"I must leave you soon, pet." Edward growled as he licked Bella's thighs clean and pushed more of his venom beneath her skin. He stood and looked her in the face, her eyes dark with blood loss and barely held consciousness. Edward reached out and stroked a cold, stone hard, hand over the girl's face. "I will know if you turn, pet, and I will return for you." The laugh the vampire gave was as cold as his skin. "But since, looking at you, I'm fairly certain death will come long before your body submits to the venom I will ensure that at least a_ _ **card**_ _is sent to Charlie. The poor man will deserve it, don't you think?"_

 _With that Edward used his pointer finger nail to run a scar behind Bella's right ear and down a portion of her jawline. It wasn't deep, he was being careful not to nick any arteries or veins that sat just below the surface of her translucent skin. He smiled a darkened yet nearly loving smile as the blood trailed down her body, Bella's eyes wavering out of consciousness again._

 _"One last kiss, to remember me by." And with that Edward kissed down the cut he had created, stopping briefly at her jaw to suck for a moment- but never pierced her skin with his teeth. His lips crashed over her unconscious ones still covered in her own blood, had Bella still been awake she probably would have used what little energy she had to vomit at the taste. "Goodbye, Isabella."_

* * *

Bella's body was still burning, but this time the burn was more like touching ice than sticking herself in a fire. She was aware of a little actual heat coming from somewhere outside herself. Yet her own body was cold, burningly cold- a near perfect oxymoron.

 _"Don't let go, Little Swan. I have you, and I will not let you go."_ The voice was new to her, and Bella did not have the energy to even open her eyes. Her mind was barely aware of her body being carried but she could feel the wind. Whoever was carrying her was not running at a completely human pace. What was going on? _"Hold on, Little Swan."_

Her mind blacked out again as she listened to the rain, _when had it started raining,_ and she felt the heat from the body carrying her. It didn't melt the ice within her skin- but it stopped it from spreading as fast. Even in the black she clung to that heat. Bella just wished she knew who, or what, was creating it.

Bella barely awoke again to talk of blood types and need. She registered a tightening of the arms that were wrapped around her. The heat had only increased since the last time she'd managed a moment of conscious thought.

 _Who is this?_ Opening her eyes just barely she saw tanned skin, no shirt, and a well-defined collarbone and shoulder. _This body isn't Jake's, he's too young…_ Her mind began to waiver again and a small sound escaped her lips in frustration as she tried to retain consciousness enough to figure out where she was and just who was holding her so tightly.

 _"Paul, pick her up very carefully…"_ She heard a name, but was that the name of the person holding her? Bella's mind fell into the blackness once again as she registered the arms around her gingerly shifting. _Where were they taking her? Was this a dream?_

* * *

The van nearly skidded into the clinic's darkened parking lot. There was a small 'emergency room' that was kept up for just in case moments, but Sue knew better than to park there. Dr. Whitehawk was dutifully waiting by the back door near his offices in the clinic building. All wolves would go here, and she assumed this would include ones that were giving blood to a vampire attacked human.

 _Great Spirits, am I making the right decision?_ Sue thought as she threw the van into park and turned the engine off. Emily was already climbing out of the back, quickly followed by Paul carrying the girl. The two younger natives ran towards the door in the darkness- even on the reservation there were prying eyes and snooping noses. It was best to avoid all of them given what they were doing.

"Sue." Dr. Whitehawk said as he ushered them into a room with two reclined beds. One of them was more a chair versus an actual hospital styled bed with railings. "Place the girl on this one," indicating the one with rails. "Paul you can sit in the other. If you need to be touching her, I understand she is your imprint, then you are free to move the chair closer for this."

There was a rather large machine sitting to the back of the chairs. Attached to this machine were many lines and wires as well as bags of what looked like saline solution and other things. Sue whistled at the preparedness that the good Doctor had managed in just under ten minutes.

"Everything is ready; we just need to re-stick the girl if you used anything smaller than an 18 on that IV." Dr. Whitehawk motioned to the line already sticking out of Bella's hand. "I'm going to run off the assumption that it is what, a 20?"

"It is a 20, Doctor." Sue nodded as she began to worry the inside of her cheek again with her teeth. "I couldn't find anything larger to set a bigger size."

"Well now that you've administered minimal fluids check the arteries in her wrist, bicep, and even her basilic or cephalic veins. Anything we can sink a line into at this point- we are going to have to forgo the usual precautions. We don't know exactly _what_ his blood is even going to _do_ to her in this state but without another donor option and no blood available for hours via transport this is the best option that we've got."

"What about possible clotting?" Sue said as she pulled on gloves and got to work on finding a place to run the needed line on Bella. "We can't be sure that his blood wont clot once it leaves his body."

"None of the wolves' blood clots very fast at all. I tested that months ago with Sam when we were running tests on his healing factor. I wanted to know if it was the blood clotting or the skin literally recreating itself that caused the healing." Emily made a strangled noise of anger from the corner in which she stood, Dr. Whitehawk regarded her softly for a moment. "He agreed to the testing, as did Jared. The only wolf I haven't managed to sink my scalpel into is Paul- but I'm getting to now!"

The unholy glee on the Doctor's face would have been laughable to Paul in any other circumstances than the current ones. He pulled his upper lip over his teeth and gave a guttural inhuman growl to the medical professional.

"Get me hooked up, Doctor, before you need to sew yourself up!" Paul's eyes were full of a fire that surprised even Emily- and she was imprinted herself to one of the wolves. "If Bella dies then I will currently hold you just as responsible as the leech who tore her up." Paul's eyes narrowed as Dr. Whitehawk rolled his eyes and slapped on gloves. "I am not kidding, Whitehawk."

"I am sure, boy." Dr. Whitehawks voice was still pleasant, if strained. "Now I have to warn you- I cannot run a line in your artery. Your wolf healing would reject it and fight the transfusion process if I did. Therefore, I'm going to have to run the literal needle- your healing won't be able to effect it in the same way as a catheter."

"Not afraid of needles, doc." Paul said as he gripped Bella's cold and limp hand tightly. "Let's just get this done with!"

Sue looked up to Dr. Whitehawk and nodded as she managed to set the catheter in the median cephalic vein. It wasn't the best place for the job but it was the one she had been able to access and would do for now.

"I'm in." Sue backed away and pulled off her gloves to change them, Bella had managed to bleed just a little as she had set the end of the catheter into the line running from the machine. "What's that for? I thought we only used those for plasma or blood donations."

"We do. But in rare occasions they have been used for donor to patient transfusions as now. I am using it to infuse extra nutrients as well as some anticoagulant into Paul's blood just to be safe." Dr. Whitehawk's entire focus was on the wolf in front of him, their healing factor was fast but thankfully his skills at sinking a needle just a fraction or so faster. He sunk the needle perfectly on the first try and turned the machine on to pull from Paul and give to Bella.

"Anticoagulant? Do you really think that's safe with her blood loss?" Sue was confused as the machine began its processes. The doctor set a timer of an hour on the machine and backed away from the wolf and his imprint.

"She has no open wounds. The anticoagulant is more to ensure that it doesn't clot from him to her. Her own body should take over once the blood reaches her. She seems much stronger than she looks to be honest, I'm quite surprised that she's even made it this far." Paul growled again, his eyes closed as he focused wholly on the heartbeat of his imprint. "I wasn't saying she should have died, calm your hackles or I will muzzle you until you're out of my office."

The doctor checked the machine again as he mumbled to himself and smiled. Everything was distributing properly and the blood was beginning to move from the infusion bowl to the girl. He had turned the centrifuge down as much as possible to ensure the least amount of damage to the red blood cells within.

"Sue, please watch them for a moment. We will know within 15 minutes whether or not her body will be able to maintain this connection and endure his blood." Dr. Whitehawk turned to Emily and gave a small smile. "I'm sure you could use something calm to drink. And if I'm not mistaken there will be two more wolves joining us rather promptly. We should probably prepare a bit of a waiting area for them and for you- this is going to take an hour at minimum. Four at most. We are in for a wait."

"I'll wait forever if it means holding her again." Paul muttered low enough that only Sue heard as the Doctor and Emily left the room. Sue looked aghast at the young and volatile wolf in front of her. Paul had not had the easiest of childhoods at all, nor was he usually the easiest person to live with. But here, in this moment, with this broken and nearly dead girl, he was changing.

 _Great Spirits,_ Sue thought with a soft and motherly smile to Paul as she carefully covered the two with blankets to ensure warmth. _You may have a sense of humor, giving her to him. But your humor does not go unnoticed, or unanswered._

* * *

 _A/N: I am taking a little bit of liberty here with the transfusion process and I am in a way combining three different types of donor-to-patient styles that have, in the past, been used to marginal successes and failures._

 _Yes I did go back to the previous chapters to give a little bit more Bella in this one- I didn't want people to think she was just a completely wilting flower in all of this, although definitely a damsel in distress._

 _Yes, I **am** using Spirits instead of Gods (I've seen that phrase used more) in this Fic. The reason being that my family, natives from both the Quinault and Shoshone tribes (weird, but it's maternal and paternal) both describe them as Spirits rather than Gods so I am going with what I have been taught through them vs what most people would expect to see._

 _Thank you to everyone who has been reviewing and leaving a favorite or a follow! The support means so much, especially since this is a rather road less traveled for me as far as fandom and fanfiction go._


	6. Seeking the Right Question

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

Sam and Jared had actually run to each other before deciding to run the woods to as close to the clinic as they could get. Jared was beginning to near where Sam was already waiting for him so he pulled himself back from an all-out run into a slightly slower gait, nearly a trot had he been a horse.

 **Jared:** _The Keeper wasn't as helpful as we would have hoped. She was more cryptic than anything, speaking in riddles and questions I couldn't answer. Just how old is she? I don't think she can see anymore, even though she weaves._

 **Sam:** _Not even the tribal elders and council know just how old the Keeper is. The widow Akil said that she met the Keeper once as a young woman and she seemed older than this forest, and met her again when she was added to the council in her late husband's stead and the Keeper had not aged a day._

 **Jared:** _I realize I turn into a wolf and should be okay with weird, but that is just creepy Sam. Please don't have Emily ask me to go there again, and don't do it yourself._

 **Sam:** _I didn't ask Emily to require it of you. Besides you wouldn't be able to find the Keeper again unless you were truly seeking to find her. Only those who are worthy or seeking can find the Keeper- and only those who know the right questions receive the answers sought._

 **Jared:** _That is almost exactly the kind of bullshit nonsense she was spouting at me, Sam! What the hell? How does that even help us!?_

 **Sam:** _Relax, Jared, I was quoting what she said to me when I managed to phase back human at her shack the first time. It was like a dream, now that I think about it. But all too solid and real._

 **Jared:** _Well, if you want to see what she said to me I am more than happy to show you._

 **Sam:** _Please do, think about everything… But do it while we run, the pull to the clinic is beginning to make my chest ache._

 **Jared:** _Oddly enough, mine too._

* * *

 _The Keeper's eyes had never left her weaving as Jared entered the small cabin. It felt more like a rundown shack to him- but he'd never be dumb enough to say such things out loud. Billy would gut him long before even Sam managed a punishment for that kind of idiocy._

 _You didn't question the Keeper._

 _"Keeper," Jared said as he knelt on the dirt floor in front of her. "I am Jared Cameron, Protector of the Tribe, and Beta to Sam Uley. I have come for answers in a time of need."_

 ** _"I know why you have come, young wolf."_** _The Keeper actually looked at him, her gaze piercing through the white irises of her eyes._ ** _"But I know not if I can help you. You are a seeker, but I do not believe you are seeking the right things. Ask your question, but know that I can only answer the right question."_**

 _Jared furrowed his brow at this cryptic talk from the ancient woman in front of him. She was playing with him, wasn't she? What did she mean by seeker? The right question? What the hell?!_

 _"I am seeking," Jared replied as he looked up from the ground. "I seek to know about the girl, about the pale face Bella Swan. She is… She has been attacked by a vampire, but wasn't turning. She is dying but hasn't died."_

 ** _"I can answer only a question, Seeker. You must know your question."_** _The Keeper returned to her weaving as she picked the threads up again._ ** _"Ask what you seek. And then return to your pack wiser."_**

 _Jared nearly growled but thought better of it at the last moment. There was a cane, beautifully carved and magnanimous, well within arm's reach of the Keeper and he wasn't entirely sure that she didn't know how to use it. He also had an inkling that it would be able to withstand hitting a wolf._

 _He took a deep breath and gathered his thoughts into the form of the question that his pack truly needed answered. "Did Sam, Paul, and I truly imprint on this girl? What is she to the pack? How is this possible?"_

 ** _"I can only answer one, Seeker. But you have asked the right one, so an answer you shall receive." _**_The Keeper gave a soft smile, faint against the wrinkles of age and time._ ** _"The pale faced Bella Swan is in fact all wolves' imprint. They will all create a bond with her soul that cannot be easily broken or replaced. Guard her well, young wolf, for that bond will come to fruition in time. And her sacrifice will be needed."_**

 _"Her sacrifice? What are you talking about?" Jared questioned as he stood quickly, nearly knocking over a stool that sat near the Keeper in the process. "You are speaking in riddles, Keeper."_

 _Jared began to pace for a moment before turning back to the woman in exasperation._ _"Keeper, I don't understand." Jared said as he bit at his bottom lip hard enough to draw blood. "You keep repeating yourself, talking of prophecies and powers beyond my control, but it makes no sense. I need to help the Pack, I need to help the girl, and I need your help to do both."_

 _ **"You have received my help, young wolf."**_ _The woman's otherworldly voice said as she continued to weave, her eyes never leaving her work although Jared was pretty sure she was blind if her white pupils meant anything. _ **"The girl is important to the pack. She has a role to play in the future, just as you do. Remember my words well, wolf, when you tell your Alpha. Without her sacrifice the Pack will surely die, as will the people of the Quileute tribe."**_ The woman's words, no less cryptic than before, began to nearly enrage Jared into phasing. A sharp look from the older woman changed that_ **. "If you must change skins do so outside. Go back to your pack, young one. There is little you can learn from me. When the right question is asked by the One Who Will Know then the answer will come."**

* * *

Sam regarded the memory as he and Jared found themselves on the edge of the woods closest to the clinic. There was a short walk, less than a half a mile, between the two wolves and the clinic- and the streets between the two were dark enough that they could run it and have minimal chance of someone catching them doing so.

Both phased out of their wolf forms together, used to the nakedness that came with changing from one form to another. They pulled on their respective shorts and began the trek through the open but dark streets, silence seemed natural between them as they kept walking.

A sudden but suffocating pain that ran through their bodies caused both wolves to fall to the ground. Something was _wrong._

Jared took one panicked look at Sam, who returned it in spades, and forced his body off the ground while his Alpha grunted and strained to do the same. That single look told both wolves everything the other needed to know and they took off at a full tilt run towards the clinic where the painful pull was leading both of them.

* * *

 _A/N: I am sorry for the short cliff hanger chapter but I couldn't get this information to mesh properly with the prior chapter and it most certainly does **not** go with the next chapter at all! I apologize again!_


	7. The Stench of Bleach and Death

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

Jacob and Embry were busy cleaning up the already nearly immaculate Swan residence, Charlie was outside thanking the last of the volunteers who had come to help find Bella- he was explaining away fears about possible more attacks with words of patience and understanding.

"He doesn't look so good, Jake." Embry said from his position near the window, the boys had finished doing any cleaning possible downstairs and Jake was putting up the last of a few casseroles that people always felt the need to bring to any form of tragedy or stirring event. Jake blanched at the idea of another casserole in his stomach, especially after his father was in the hospital recently. "Like, he's holding it together but I'd have to say barely."

"I know, Em." Jake replied quietly as he closed the door to the near overly stuffed fridge. "But at least Bella should be okay, right? Sam would have said if it was bad… wouldn't he?"

"Who knows? He's been really… weird… lately. Like, first him and then Jared. And most recently that Paul Lahote. That guy was well known, mostly liked, and now he's reclusive and barely leaves Sam's side. It's just… it's weird, man." Embry shrugged as he dropped the curtain and took a deep breath. His face scrunched up in disgust at a smell that found its way into his nose. "What the hell is that?!"

Jake looked up at Embry startled as the other male went through the living room of the house sniffing- it kind of reminded him of a dog looking for a bone or a treat. Embry lifted a couple pillows and smelled them seemingly normal, as if he did this all the time. Jake rolled his eyes as Embry kept looking for whatever he could smell- but Jake smelled nothing.

"What are you looking for, Em?" Jake asked as Embry began to walk upstairs. "You're acting like a mad man."

"You can't smell that?" Embry turned to Jake and for just barely a moment Jake would have sworn his life on the idea that Embry's eyes seemed wider and almost glowing. What the hell? "It's almost like bleach mixed with sugar. Sweet, but like a chemical at the same time."

Jake shook his head but followed Embry upstairs and across the small hallway to a room with a shut door. Embry was still sniffing the air like a dog, and it was beginning to not be funny to Jake. What was the other boy smelling that Jake couldn't?

Once Embry opened the door to the room, Jake recognized it in an instant as obviously being Bella's, the smell finally assaulted his nose. Embry had been right, it was a sickly sweet and chemical smell and made him want to vomit the moment he caught it. Jake actually backed away to heave for a moment as Embry walked into the room- not a care in the world that it was a girl's room, let alone a girl he'd only met once.

"Jake, what the hell? Does she have some sort of bleach fetish?" Embry asked as he smelled the air again, his face scrunched tightly. "This room smells fucking horrid, how does she sleep in here?"

"I don't know, man, but that smell is really starting to bug me. And it's kinda creeping me out too, so let's get out of here. Can always ask her about the smell when she comes home, right?" Jake replied as he grabbed the door to close it. He was waiting for Embry to leave the room, looking at him expectantly. "Come on, Em, let's get out of here. Respect her privacy and all that."

Embry smelled the air one more time, scrunched his face even tighter, and then shook his head with a forceful exhale- if he hadn't looked like a dog before he most certainly did now. Jake would have laughed again had he not truly wanted to vomit at that smell. Just how _had_ Bella handled that? Or had she not noticed it?

He didn't know how she couldn't have, especially in her bedroom. Smelled like bleach and sugar and… and death.

Clapping Embry on the back Jacob led the march back down the stairs just as Charlie came into the house. The older man looked worn plain ragged and in need of a beer, or two.

"Hey boys." Charlie said with a nod. "Thank you for staying here tonight Jake and… I forgot your name, son."

"Embry Call, sir." Embry stuck his hand out to take Charlie's in a firm handshake. "You've helped my mother Tiffany out of a few tight spots over the years, but the last time I saw you was years ago."

"Oh, Tiffany, I know her. She's a good woman, always kind." Charlie rambled a little, talking slow but not out of stupidity. It was obvious to anyone who could get him _to_ talk that Charlie was far from lacking in mental capacity. He just seemed to talk about as fast as he liked to fish: which was slow and careful, always thinking about the next move to win the prize. He was nothing if not steadfast. "How is your mother doing, Embry?"

"She is doing well, actually. Just got promoted down at the souvenir shop again, it's a small raise but the more important thing is that she was cleared by the council to actually start making art of her own to sell." Embry beamed with pride for his mother. She had raised him alone and had instilled in him a pride in the idea of making one's own way in life. His mother was also a great weaver and basket maker, he hoped very much that she would see some of her pieces sell. It would mean the world to her. "She's hoping to have some baskets and maybe a few blankets weaved up here in the next few months or so."

"That's good, son." Charlie gave a rare smile, it looked wrong amongst the rest of the anguish in the man's face. "I will need to buy a basket when she has one- the one she gave me for helping her is falling apart now." Charlie pointed to a basket on the counter that had obviously been lovingly made many years prior. It was aged and falling to pieces as it held fruit, a homey touch to the kitchen that already felt very lived in.

"I'll tell her, I'm sure she'd be glad to make you a special one Chief Swan." Embry replied with a genuine smile in return.

"You can call me Charlie, son." Charlie turned to Jake with a rather deep sigh. "I need to sit, if you could Jake can you please grab me a beer?"

Jake nodded and turned to grab Charlie a beer as well as some of the lasagna that he was pretty sure Bella had made what looked like the night before. Thankfully Bella labeled everything when she put it away, and even day old lasagna looked better than some of those casseroles that the town had assaulted Charlie with. Slapping a healthy but not overly large piece onto a plate and covering it with a paper towel Jake ran the food through the microwave to warm it up.

"Here you go, Charlie." Jake said as he handed the older man the beer after opening it on the edge of the counter with a flick. It was a practiced motion, Charlie noticed, but he kept his mouth shut. Whatever Billy allowed Jake to do wasn't his issue right now. Bella was, however, and he had heard nothing as of yet. Charlie was itching to call the reservation clinic. "I've got some lasagna heating up for you too, it looked better than that… um, food?"

"People meant well." Charlie muttered as he took a rather deep swig into the bottle. He jolted and almost spat it out when his cell phone rang in the other room. Jacob moved to answer it.

"Swan residence?" Jacob asked as pleasantly as he could. Jacob's eyes widened a little bit but only Embry caught the change in emotion and planned on asking him about it once the phone call was over. "Charlie, Sue needs to know if Bella's blood type is actually O- or not…" Jake let the sentence fizzle out as Charlie looked up with a wistful look in his eyes.

"Yes, it is. Got it from Renee, thankfully one of the few things she really got from her mother." Charlie gave a chuckle at the memories of his daughter when she was younger. She never had been a dreamer like her mother, preferred to be more level headed like him.

"He said yes, apparently she got it from Renee." Jacob replied with a half-smile at the look on Charlie's face. It was a look he saw on his own father's face quite a bit recently- the look of memories. "How is-?" The caller on the other end had hung up before Jacob had even managed to begin his question.

"How is Bella doing?" Charlie asked in a strained voice, looking to Jake for answers.

"Sounds like she is okay. They most likely had to make sure she wouldn't have a reaction to something simple… You know how blood types can be." Jake lied through his teeth and gave a shrug. For a cop Charlie knew little about the medical field and seemed to accept this answer which almost caused the young native to sigh in relief. He thought better of it thankfully.

The microwave beeping brought all three males out of their thoughts and Jake moved to the kitchen, Embry followed quickly behind him. Embry wanted to know what that subtle change in Jacob had been caused by- his friend was much more tense than he had been even five minutes ago. Something had happened, something he had hidden from Charlie.

What would cause Jake to do that?

Jacob checked the plate of lasagna and it was fully heated through so he pushed past Embry quickly to deliver the meal to Charlie who took it with gratitude, turning back to his television and watching what looked like the news but Jacob wasn't sure.

Embry grabbed Jake's arm as he entered the kitchen again and drug him to the corner away from the opening to the living room. His eyes burned with unasked questions, Jake held a hand up to stop him before Embry had even managed a word.

"I know what you want to know." Jake sighed and ran a hand through his long hair, Embry almost laughed when he realized Jake had forgotten to braid it like he usually would. "It wasn't Sue Clearwater on the phone."

"Then who was it?" Embry was puzzled. There were very few people on the reservation who would be with Sue in the clinic- and none of them would have caused such a reaction out of Jake.

"It was Emily Young, that woman who is with Sam Uley." Jacob spat out in annoyance although it wasn't aimed at Embry. "She isn't a medical woman, and she sure as hell doesn't work at the clinic."

"What is going on?!" Embry growled a little, his voice going deeper than it ever had which made Jake laugh and slap him on the shoulder.

"Sounds like someone's finally hitting puberty, Em." Jacob laughed and the moment of tenseness between the two teens passed in that laugh. Embry began to chuckle as well, rolling his eyes. The growling of both stomachs pulled them out of their laughter and back to the kitchen in which they stood. "Come on, let's eat. Not like there isn't enough food in that fridge. And Bella's lasagna is fucking amazing."

The two boys gleefully began to shovel food onto plates, Embry more so than Jake but the latter just chalked it up to a long and stressful day. The memories of the night swirled through their brains, some things more prominently than others. Jake was more questioning why Emily was with Sue, had they even taken Bella to the clinic? Embry, on the other hand, was more focused on that sickening deathly bleach smell that seemed to permeate the house with its aroma.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

 _A/N: Yes, I know I am evil. I did return to Charlie, Jake, and Embry on purpose however- it will be clear in a chapter or two; so no worries, okay? I will be returning to Bella, Paul, Sam, and Jared in the next chapter so the cliffhanger will get to be answered then, okay?_


	8. A Battleground

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

Sue Clearwater was pacing the room, it had been about 15 minutes into the process of transfusion between the young wolf and his broken imprint. Her heartbeat was steady, still slow, and her oxygen levels were around 2% higher than they had been when the event began- but that was the only real triumph thus far.

"Stop pacing, Sue." Paul growled through his teeth. His eyes were still closed but Sue knew that he had been tracking her movements through the sound of her footfalls. "You're not going to help either of us wearing a hole into the floor, and that shit's concrete."

"Language, please, Paul Lahote." Sue chided him gently, bringing a miniscule smile to her face and a smirk to his. "I know that you are a Protector now but that kind of language isn't necessary."

Paul chuckled deep in his chest, calmed for the moment. The transfusion wasn't painful, but it was sure as hell uncomfortable. He could literally _feel_ his veins trying to heal around the needle in his arm; making the entire site very itchy and his want to scratch was overpowered only by the knowledge that it was Bella, _his_ Bella, that he was going through the torture for.

"How long is this set to run for, Sue?" Paul questioned. He knew that Dr. Whitehawk had said something about the time but he wasn't truly paying attention before- his mind had been too focused on Bella. "Because this needle itches like hell."

"An hour, Paul. Up to four- depending on how much blood Bella needs and her condition." Sue replied as she checked the lines again.

A sudden spike in Bella's heart rate alerted both wolf and nurse to a change in condition. It was spiking hard, so Sue ran to the monitor to see what else was spiking if anything. Her blood pressure was going up as well. Dangerously so.

"Dr. Whitehawk!" Sue yelled down the hall through the door she ripped open in her panicked rush. "We need you!"

"What the hell is going on Sue?!" Paul said as he tried to sit up only to hit Sue's slightly cooler hand, the woman had run back to him the moment she'd called for the doctor. "Let me up, damn it!"

"No, Paul. Try to calm yourself. Bella needs you, so please try to calm." Sue said as Bella began to tense up, her body seizing in a way that looked rather painful. Still, though, the girl made no noise. She was breathing, for sure, and according to the electrodes dotting the girl's head her brain was also _quite_ active.

She was feeling whatever was causing her body to seize in such a way.

"What happened, Sue?" Dr. Whitehawk said as he ran into the room and instantly began checking out the still unconscious patient. "Did she awaken? Say anything? Any changes prior to the spike?"

"Her heartbeat was becoming stronger- I could heart it even from here." Paul replied through his teeth, they were clenched uncomfortably tight even for him. "Tell me what is wrong with her, Doc. And I suggest doing so quickly."

"Threatening me will not allow me to assess her any faster, wolf." Dr. Whitehawk replied with a side glance to Paul. "And I would dare say it's not a smart idea when I am surrounded by enough tranquilizers to knock you on your furry ass for days."

"Doctor!" Sue nearly screeched. "That is no way to talk to a Protector- one under your care no less!" Paul and the good Doctor almost laughed at the woman. Their relationship had always been one of snapbacks and little bites between the two- it worked for them.

That was Paul's usual relationship with almost anyone.

Dr. Whitehawk examined Bella for another moment or two, touching her body and feeling her pulse. He looked at the monitor and cracked an almost wry smile.

"There's nothing wrong with her at all." Dr. Whitehawk replied solemnly. "It's the natural way of what you are."

Paul and Sue stared at the Doctor with confused looks. Neither understood what the man meant and in that moment of silence it became obvious. Whitehawk turned around to look at his two confused companions.

"Her body is covered in scars that according to Sue look fresh- and according to her blood loss shouldn't be there. Correct?" Sue merely nodded, Paul stayed completely still as he contemplated the Doctor's words. "She was obviously attacked by a Cold One- the fact that the wounds are healed so perfectly with nothing more than ice lines across her skin tells me that."

"Yes, she was attacked by a leech. One she _was_ dating, actually." Paul's teeth almost broke with the force in which he was gritting them.

"Then it would be rather obvious why she's in pain right now. Her body is a battleground." Dr. Whitehawk began just as Sam and Jared burst in panting and panicked. "Oh, nice of you two to join us. Nice run?"

"What… is… going… on…?" Jared asked as he clutched his chest lightly. The pain had lessened with his proximity to Bella but the tightness still existed. He felt like he was trying to breathe through a tub of pudding- and didn't even want to imagine the strength it was taking Paul to not completely fall apart.

"Her body is ground zero for a battle as old as the immortals themselves, wolf." Dr. Whitehawk replied with a light roll to his eyes. "Her body is mortal, human. The venom of a cold one is possibly literally pooled underneath her skin, traces possibly in her veins as well. We are now loading those veins with the blood of a wolf. The natural enemy and killer of a cold one, correct?"

Jared nodded. "We're killing her, you mean."

"Not technically," Dr. Whitehawk began as he stood near the monitor and brought up some of the prior EKG readings as well as the current heart rate and Oxygen saturation observations. "Her body is fighting, and it is a painful fight to say the least. Her heart rate and blood pressure are proof positive of the pain she must be in. _However,_ countering that is the fact that her oxygen saturation levels are spiking higher and higher at an alarming rate and her brain activity is much closer to conscious activity than it was even three minutes ago when this battle began tells me that it looks like she, with the help of the wolf, just might win against the ice inside of her body."

"She'll win." Paul's strained voice drifted through the room, everyone turned to the somber wolf. He was gently holding the hand of his mate, a hand that was squeezing his in a way that would have been painful to a human, and his eyes were closed again. Paul's face took on a look of optimistic contentment as he relaxed a fraction back onto the seat. "My little Swan is a fighter, she'll make it."

Sam and Jared decided to back out of the room then, Emily had appeared during their conversation and was urging Sam to her with incessant hands. He wrapped his own mate in a deep and heavy embrace, the hole in his chest at her absence closing slightly.

"Let's give them space, Sam." Emily whispered to him as she gently backed him out of the room. Jared followed quietly, the tug in his chest tightening for a mere moment and then snapping back to a normal beat, like a drum that beat alongside his heart. "We can talk in the lounge area Dr. Whitehawk and I set up. There is even a little coffee, okay?"

Jared gently pushed past the lovers to get to the coffee Emily had mentioned. Tonight had been… eventful to say the least and he was in need of the caffeine to take the edge off. Not that it really would- he could drink three or four whole _pots_ of coffee without feeling the effects of the caffeine involved.

"What is really going on?" Jared asked his companion, Dr. Whitehawk had followed him out of the room- leaving Paul and Bella under Sue's care again. "Because I feel like you only gave us a half assed explanation in there."

"To be honest? I have a hypothesis to the situation, but without proper testing to back it up I would be a shoddy Doctor if I tried to diagnose something I'm so blind to." The Doctor's cryptic response reminded Jared so much of the Keeper that he growled slightly, startling a laugh out of the older man. "Son, I have had enough of wolves growling at me for the night. Put away to aggression for a moment and I'll be nice enough to throw you a bone."

"I'm not Paul- that kind of humor doesn't, well, _humor_ me." Jared replied dryly as he reached the coffee and began to pour himself a cup, taking a deep drink of it untouched by milk or sugar. "But I'll still take the bone."

"Judging from your reaction, from Sam's protective prowling, and from Paul's obvious over aggression I would say that she is actually _drawing_ her strength to fight from the pack." Dr. Whitehawk looked sidelong at Jared and narrowed his eyes. "Did anything _else_ happen in those woods? Something left out from the information I received?"

Jared hesitated for a moment but decided against it in a moment. Sam hadn't yet ordered him to silence and at this point Jared couldn't be happier for that.

"We imprinted on Bella."

 _"We?"_ Dr. Whitehawk's face paled a little in realization. "What do you mean _we?"_

"I mean just that. We **all** imprinted on Bella Swan." Jared responded with a shrug and downed the rest of his coffee.

"Spirits help that girl." Was Dr. Whitehawk's whispered reply, it was almost too low for even the wolf to hear.

* * *

 _A/N: Hello all! This will be a longer Author's Note as I feel I need to address a few things that were left in reviews on this story. As usual thank you to **all** of the reviewers (even the one to whom I will be addressing) and followers and favorites!_

 _To my guest reviewer who has felt the need to be a little more than negative in their reviews:_

 _1\. Yes, O- blood is a universal **donor** as far as blood type goes **HOWEVER** someone with O- blood can **only** receive O- blood in return. And according to my anatomy text book, published in 2013 (and they used the American Red Cross for reference), O- blood is actually the **third LEAST common** blood type in Native Races (worldwide) and it comes in at **fourth** least common in Caucasians (assuming Bella is fully white). Even using those numbers the possibility that a small town reservation clinic would have the availability of on hand O- blood is slim- less so for a readily available living donor who could withstand a transfusion from live donor to patient._

 _2\. I realize you didn't touch on this (or have not as of my writing this particular A/N) but I did also use my own experience in Anatomy and Physiology class as well as my phlebotomy courses to pad the procedure involved in a live donor-to-patient blood transfusion. In fact, many reputable (not saying my **fictional** doctor couldn't be, but I digress) doctors wont even **do** a live transfusion due to being unable to really monitor the amount of blood that transfers from patient to patient. Especially in a smaller clinic- which based on the info only given in the _ Twilight _books it would be._

 _3\. As far as my 'ignorance' when it comes to the proper hierarchy of Police stations. I looked up the typical Washington State police hierarchy and found very little **credible** information so I decided to use my own community for that. In my town, of less than 15,000 people in Michigan, we have this hierarchy: Sheriff (voted in), loaned State Cop 'detectives' for major crimes, the Chief (usually appointed by the city council or tenured), the Chief's 'deputies' (usually the next 2-3 in line as far as tenure goes, they step up when the Chief is out of action), and then the normal beat cops underneath. I apologize if my using my own experience in lieu of credible information after research offends you- it was not my intention but I would prefer it if you could not start calling me 'ignorant' before even asking me if I had actually attempted a true background check of the information. Thank you in the future._

 _4\. When I turned 18 in 2010 (again, this happened in Michigan **not** Washington- but I couldn't find a relevant law in **either** state!) I was in a car accident not even three days **after** my birthday. Due to blood loss and a halfway decent gash on my abdomen I needed a transfusion and apparently a possible tissue transplant (or graft, they hadn't decided yet apparently). In my haze and barely conscious state I kept telling the paramedics and trauma doctors that I **refused** the procedures that could save my life. When asked for a reason I could apparently give none. In lieu of allowing me to die, however, they called my next-of-kin which **at the time** happened to be my parents and asked them to sign the proper legal and "I promise not to sue for religious or whatever reasons" paperwork which allowed them to actually do the procedures required. Here is the explanation I was given at a later date from my trauma surgeon: Had they decided to follow their Hippocratic Oath and done all in their abilities to save my life **including** the possible tissue transplant and I was against for a moral or religious reason I could have either A) sued the hospital for emotional damages or B) sued **them** (and technically still the hospital) for not respecting my rights to keep my body my own. **Based on my own experience with this** I chose to add the line(s) about wanting Charlie's allowance for the possibilities- yes these people know each other (small towns and all) but it is still the prerogative of a medical professional (even one operating as my fictional ones are) to cover their own rears in the possibility of legal actions down the road from a trauma like this._

 _To this Guest reviewer: I truly do wish you would create an account so that I could talk to you privately about such things but you did not allow for that- deciding that the idea of being rude and trying to tear me down would be better. I am saddened by this but I do realize that all people are allowed to have their own opinions about things, so I hold no hard feelings. However- in the future- if you feel the need to continue being so rude I will consider turning off Guest reviewing because it really can shake a writer's confidence (yes, even my own) when someone so wholeheartedly feels the need to attack things in such ways instead of asking questions or seeking to help the author. Criticism is best served constructively._

 _Thank you._


	9. Fight and the Pain Will End

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

 _Bella was somewhere she'd never seen before, though she could barely notice. This place, wherever it was, felt unnatural. There was no sound, the air didn't even feel like it was moving, and beyond maybe a foot in front of her there was only darkness._

 _Where was she?_

 _A silvery grey wolf was circling her, facing the darkness. She could barely make out the shapes of what looked like two more wolves just beyond the grey predator. One was just barely smaller than the silver one, and had what looked like brown fur. The second wolf, a large and imposing creature, was as black as the darkness in which he was facing. All three animals had teeth bared and fur to the air, tails dangerously swishing as they paced._

 _"Where am I?" Bella said as she raised a hand to her head, and gasped as she got a look at her body. Her already translucent skin was now marred with twisting lines. Some of them were stark white and others were similar colors to the wolves. They moved across her arm and seemed to almost fight each other for dominance on her skin._

 _"Technically, you're in your own mind." A silky smooth voice said only moments before a chorus of growling erupted from the wolves as they stopped pacing and faced a single pale creature. Bella looked at him and thought that for all his beauty the red eyes ruined his composure._

 _"What do you mean, Edward?" Bella was confused, she didn't understand what was going on._

 _"I mean, dear Isabella, that this- all of this-" The creature with red eyes and Edward's face gestured to the black darkness. "Is merely a creation inside your mind. How curious, is it, that I am here. Did you need to see a face with the venom?"_

 _"I don't… I don't believe you." Bella stuttered out as she backed away from the vampire and his cold red gaze and colder fang-filled smile. "This isn't real if it's in my mind."_

 _ **"It is very much real, Daughter, and you must face it."** A new, ancient, voice resounded out of the darkness. The phantom with Edward's face hissed while the three wolves hearkened to the newcomer. Out of the void came a very regal and wise looking wolf. He was obviously aged, given the white fur around his muzzle and ears. **"You must face this threat, young one."**_

 _The great wolf walked forward and stepped up next to Bella. His nose felt solid and completely real as he pushed the girl towards a light in the darkness. There was an eerie glow and a sickening feeling coming from the glow, Bella's muted instincts screamed at her to run- to fight the wolf urging her forward._

 _On either side of Bella and the great wolf walked the venomous vampire and the three wolves. The vampire hissed and spat every once in a while, only to be rewarded with increasingly loud growling from the wolves on the opposite side._

 _ **"Enter the light, Daughter."** The wolf said to the girl, his voice coming from somewhere within. **"You must fight this battle on your own, and to do so you must choose your side. And your champion."**_

 _"I don't understand…" Bella's reply was weak and breathy as the wolf pushed her into the glowing circle. The light flashed a bright white for a moment and Bella completely doubled over in pain, she hit the ground hard. The sensation felt very real, even in this place. "What is happening?!"_

 _The wolves, including the great one, lined the edge of the void. They sat apparently waiting for something as Bella curled further and further into herself, tears threatening to stream down her face like rain. The vampire, or whatever it was, stood opposite the wolves._

 _"Make it stop!" Bella screamed as she tugged on her hair. "Please! Make it stop!"_

 _ **"Choose."** The great wolf's voice resounded again, echoing into the darkness. **"Fight and the pain will end. Give in, and it will continue."**_

 _"He is lying, Isabella." The phantom Edward gave a nearly cruel smile. "You can give in; you can come with me. I will find you, Isabella. I promised."_

 _Bella's head snapped up at that, a memory seeming to flash across her eyes as they hardened and became like darkened stone. 'I'll know if you turn pet… One last kiss to remember me by.' Her face hardened as Bella struggled to her feet. She faced the phantom in the darkness- seeing past the beautiful face it took for the first time._

 _"I may have… entertained… the idea once." Bella spoke directly to the dark and twisting void, her eyes narrowing coldly. "But I will not become like you. Whatever hold you have on me- you will not keep it!"_

 _Bella walked towards the darkness, the twisting and pulsating void, confidence in every one of her steps. The void pushed back, stopped as if by a shield. She stepped forward again, within arm's reach of the phantom Edward. She raised a hand as if to touch his face, earning growls from the wolves behind her. She turned to them and raised a single pale finger to her lips, the lines running across her skin twisting and moving violently._

 _"Isabella, please…" The words died on the lips of the phantom as he faded away to reveal the twisting creature. It looked like a dark grey wisp of a thing- large and haunting in its shape- and the tumultuous way it moved in the empty space was as grotesque as it was beautiful. The voice deepened and began to echo as the Venom began to push and ram against whatever the barrier it kept hitting was. "You won't be able to win, Isabella, you're nothing more than a human." The Venom drifted around the girl, weaving its way through the eerie light and choking off her vision of the wolves. "You're born to die, nothing more than a moment in time."_

 _"I am more than that." Bella said, her voice wavering a little. The Venom seemed to catch this and surged forward, pushing closer to her than before._

 _"You are food to my Creators. You are a blood bag, warm and ready for the taking. They both knew it." The swirling silvery mist took shape again, flickering images of James and Edward appeared before her. "They knew and they took what belonged to the more adept predator. You're nothing more than a weak link on the food chain."_

 _"I am more than food." Bella's confidence took another blow as the thought about James and the events in Phoenix again. She visibly shuddered and the Venom rushed towards her again, the invisible barrier between the two of them giving just a little bit more._

 _"You were a plaything. A toy." The Venom's voice was that of James now, still echoing and dangerous in timbre. "You are nothing more than a corpse if you fight us. Reach out, though, take in the gift of my Creators and allow it to truly take over. Allow it to become part of you. Let me in, Isabella."_

 _Bella worried at her bottom lip, her eyes downcast. She could feel the strength she had failing, the pain was becoming too much to bear and the inherent weakness that was humanity was beginning to take hold. What if the Venom was right? Would she even be able to win against the Venom? Was she even able to fight at all?_

 _ **"You are not alone, Daughter."** The great wolf's voice broke through the echoing darkness that was the Venom. Suddenly it parted to allow her sight of the giant lupines as they sat growling and snarling, foaming at the mouths and tense ready for a fight. **"Choose your champion, Daughter. There is no way out of here except to fight."**_

 _"Choose my champion?" Bella pondered for a moment, her strength returning just a little as it forced the Venom back less than an inch. She closed her eyes and took what she thought was a deep breath, she wasn't entirely sure anything here was real, let alone the air she was bringing into her body._

 _A sudden heat ran up her right hand, causing Bella to look down rather startled. The lines on her hand (which she just now realized were following her veins under the skin) were the same color as the silvery grey wolf. She looked up at the wolves and her eyes were trained on that one almost instantly. The larger than life lupine eyes glowed in a way that made Bella feel like prey and yet protected- their color a darker grey to nearly match the fur of the wolf._

 _Then for such a quick moment she thought (even here and now) that she was going crazy, the eyes changed color. They became more human in nature, the glow lessened, and their color transitioned from the grey to a deep and dark brown. She found herself lost in those eyes for just that moment- they felt like home, like safety, like life._

 _"You," Bella pointed to the silvery grey wolf, he stood and shook himself like a dog coming from water. He was large, nearly the size of a horse, but the black wolf and great old wolf were both larger still. Bella beckoned the wolf forward with her hand, the Venom hissed and backed away the closer the wolf came though it did not fully leave Bella's presence. She could nearly feel it at her back. The wolf reached the same barrier that the Venom had been stopped by and waited, eyes trained on Bella._

 _ **"Let him in, Daughter."** The old wolf's voice resounded again, shaking her to the core. **"That barrier is of your making- control it and let him in."**_

 _Bella closed her eyes in concentration, ignoring the sudden cries of the Venom in protest to her actions. She felt in her mind, as well as with her hand, forward to the wolf. With slightly gasping breaths and a trembling hand she moved forward. She opened her eyes only when she felt the warmth of fur under her fingers. In front of her, now within the barrier that surrounded her, stood the grey wolf. His eyes looked her over in an almost loving way as he seemed to assess her state._

 _To Bella's surprise, however, he then knelt down and lowered his front shoulders to as close to the ground as possible. He was assuming an obvious 'sit astride me' position, and Bella was confused about it. She looked to the great wolf for advice only to see that now all of the wolves were within her barrier- it had expanded without her knowledge or real effort._

 _ **"You have chosen the power of your Pack. Your strength to fight the venom shall come from them- they will remain within you to protect your inner most self."** The great wolf bowed his aged head. **"This is only the first of many difficult choices for you, Daughter- the path that the Spirits have set before you is one that only a strong warrior can follow."**_

 _"I am no warrior." Bella replied dumbly, still looking at the grey wolf who was waiting for her to mount him. "He isn't going to move until I sit on him, is he?"_

 _ **"No, he will not. Yet he will not let you fall. You are his now, and he is yours- you shall know his spirit as well as your own."** The great wolf regarded the girl and her wolf in an almost humored way. **"Do not be afraid, he could no more harm you than himself; and wolves can be very vain creatures. He shall protect you with all of his strength, guide you with his wisdom, and cherish you with his soul. In time, Warrior, you shall know how to do the same."**_

 _"You called me Daughter before, and Warrior now." Bella's eyes narrowed. "I am no warrior, I have no strength or great skill in any kind of battle- physical or otherwise. I'm more of a danger to everyone when I try to do things like that."_

 ** _"You are more a warrior than you know, dear one."_** _The great wolf replied with a laugh, his chest shaking along with it. **"You have a strength many fail to see, or possess. And you shall find it, within yourself."**_

 _A sudden push at her back caused Bella to almost shriek- there was something pushing her towards the silvery wolf. Looking over her shoulder she realized it was the slightly smaller, although barely, brown wolf nudging her to the kneeling one. Next to him stood the black one, he seemed large enough to eat her in one bite. That thought should have scared Bella, but it did not for some reason. Once the brown wolf had pushed her in front of the black wolf it backed away, nodding to the larger wolf and sitting patiently._

 _Bella turned to the black wolf and found herself being lifted ever so gently by her clothes, something she noticed was oddly reminiscent of leather or hide. Like a child's Native costume only much more elaborate. He placed her on the silver wolf, who instantly stood once she was seated._

'My little Swan is a fighter, she'll make it.' _The voice, not the older great wolf or the Venom, sounded more from the darkness than the wolf she was riding- but she knew it either way to be the voice of the wolf. Bella leaned down and placed her hand gentle on his head, rubbing between the ears._

 _The wolf turned her to see the Venom and growled. Bella looked up to see the Venom outside of her barrier. It was trying to make itself seem much larger than it had been before, pulsating angrily and attacking the barrier repeatedly. She found the strength of the barrier in her mind and pushed it backwards._

 _"You cannot do this, Isabella!" The Venom snapped at her, its echoing voice barely showing the fear it seemed to be able to feel. "Those animals will feel the Venom inside you, they will smell it on you. You are nothing more than a vampire damaged human to them. They will abandon you!"_

 _"Then it will be nothing more than the vampires have done." Bella replied in a voice that startled even her in its strength. "For now, though, I think I will take my chances with the wolves."_

* * *

Bella's heart rate went back down around the ending of the second hour of the procedure. Her body had begun to relax nearly twenty minutes prior to that, which gave Dr. Whitehawk a better outlook on the possibility of her survival.

"She is coming out of it. Her body temperature is evening out as well, take a look." Sue said as she looked at the readings again. "Her brain activity is coming to a head as well. She may be conscious and ready to go home in the morning. We'll need to think of a story for Charlie."

"Sam has one, I believe." Dr. Whitehawk replied as he began to unhook some of the electrodes. The girl was obviously going to be alright, for now. There really was no telling what the intake of wolf blood, and by proxy power, would do to her human body. "We'll just have to tweak it to allow her to come back to you or I for a little while. I'm worried what Paul's blood might actually do to her."

"I agree." Sue nodded and moved to leave the room. "I will go get that sorted now."

Sue left the Doctor with his patients then. She hadn't left the room at all since Bella had been brought in and needed to get some air that didn't feel heavy. Dr. Whitehawk regarded Paul, who gave him look for look in kind, and seemed to debate something in his head. It was as if he wanted to say something yet also didn't want to say it.

"I can't hurt you sitting here, Doc. Say it." Paul's deep voice was nearly sarcastic as he rolled his eyes. "You have saved my Swan; I think you deserve giving me a good one right now."

"I truly don't know what your blood is going to do to her, Paul. There could be… changes." Dr. Whitehawk sounded worried. "She also won't remember this, you know that. She won't remember you- or the imprint. I don't know how you'll be able to handle that. The pull will bring her to you eventually- but she won't remember you or know why."

"I know that. But at least it gives me a chance for her to get to know me, the real me. You know I'm fighting one hell of an… interesting… reputation." Paul smiled as he lightly squeezed Bella's hand, she returned it and his smiled brightened, he looked almost like he was glowing. "Hopefully she'll learn to love me even with that."

* * *

 _A/N:_ _Thank you all so much to all of my readers for sticking with me through these first 9-10 chapters of setup for the rest of the story. I know that sometimes I can get a tad windy and wordy so I do very much love the fact that so many of you have stuck it out through all of this! I am happy to announce that after this next chapter (10) the plot will move along past this particular "day" in my version of the Twiverse!_

 _And to everyone who has stuck by me (in public reviews and private messages) about my A/N on my last chapter I would like to extend my gratitude. Usually I wouldn't call someone out in the way that I did but I had just had it up to my neck in negative Nancys and wanted it to stop. I realize that I can't please **everyone** and I also know that I am taking a risk not only putting my work out there but also putting it out there without having a Beta- a scary thought to a lot of writers. I just hate to see people hiding behind Guest reviews to say such negative things to authors- because unfortunately in my years here I have seen many, many, **many** very good works go unfinished because of a cruel review. It **can** and **does** shake a writer's confidence a little to be so publicly shamed by someone who doesn't even reveal a name or allow a private conversation!_

 _An add on to my last A/N: After a little more research in my community I found out that the reason we don't distinguish between the Sheriffs Department and the Police is because we are something called the 'county seat' (we have the county crap in our town) and apparently sometime in the 50's when that was decided they just merged the two departments so who's in charge depends on many factors including who is on duty, the type of call, and the severity of the issue at hand. I will, when I have time, go back and change the offending chapter to reflect a more common place Police Department._

 _Again, thank you to everyone who is sticking by me!_


	10. Not of Quileute Descent

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

Embry lay awake on the floor of the Swan's living room. He hadn't been able to sleep at all, and not because of the fact that he could hear _both_ Jake and Charlie snoring. The smell of bleach and sweet burned sugar was what was keeping him awake.

"How is Jake standing that smell?" Embry mumbled to himself as he rolled to look at his friend, asleep soundly on the small couch. "I can barely breathe and he's sleeping like a baby!"

Embry decided to take this time to think about the smell, Bella, and what the possibility of Emily Young being involved meant.

 _Sam didn't arrive in a car._ Embry's mind was suddenly running a thousand miles a minute. He thought back as best he could, thanking his photographic memory, and realized that Sam _hadn't_ been in a car. He walked up, shirtless as usual, and drove away in _Billy's_ car.

 _Sam is the one who "found" Bella._ The young Native teen's thoughts were travelling down a dark path now. Sam _had_ been the one to come report the accident with the claim that he, Paul Lahote, and Jared Cameron had 'found' Bella on a complete fluke.

Was that even possible? Or was it more likely that _they_ were the ones to attack her? Embry didn't like where that train of thought took him so he tried to avoid it, especially since he truly had no proof and didn't want to start problems where none existed if he could help it.

 _Jared and Paul abandoned their individual_ ** _lives_** _for Sam._ Back onto thoughts that wouldn't cause Embry to think about the possibility of sharing a reservation with woman beaters, Embry considered this. While it was true that Jared had been a rather popular and friendly guy, which he had been before disappearing for a week, Paul on the other hand had been friends with _very_ specific people and had ran in completely different circles than Sam _or_ Jared.

Yet both of them had just up and disappeared for around a week and then reappeared but were suddenly so fucking weird. Jared skipped school sometimes, though his grades weren't suffering for it yet. Paul stopped hanging with the friends he'd had since childhood and nearly instantly _looked_ like he was drinking steroid shakes like they were water.

They both also were seen sneaking out of or back into their respective houses recently, and Jared had always been such a good kid. Never did anything like that. Paul was just a loose cannon, but that sort of came with living alone after a divorce and a piece of shit for a parent left. He lived alone on the barest edge of the residential part of the Reservation lands- his house backed right up to the woods.

Paul had also managed to get himself in trouble with the law, Charlie Swan to be specific, recently as well. Couple fights outside of bars he claimed he hadn't been in.

"Just 'bout the only good thing in a small town- everyone knows everyone else's business." Embry smiled to the ceiling as he talked to himself still mulling over the thoughts in his head. The sky was beginning to lighten outside, dawn was fast approaching and he couldn't be happier for it. "Hopefully the clinic will call with good news soon- I'd rather wake Charlie up with a good surprise than smell this suffocating air much longer."

Jake snorted loudly and rolled over on, and then completely off, the couch. His startled reaction and instant drop into a bullshit 'karate' pose made Embry laugh out loud but thankfully not _too_ loudly. Jake glared at his friend with still tired eyes as he tried to collect himself a little.

"You sleep at all?" Jake yawned.

"I did, yeah. It's a little hard to stay asleep when I think about what possibly happened to Bella. We didn't get jack shit for information last night and think about it, man, if she was attacked and _taken_ towards the Res then it's possible whoever attacked her is _from_ the Res." Embry replied offhandedly. He was looking out the window and missed Jake's shocked look, one that he quickly shook off of his face as Embry continued to talk. "I don't know, Jake… Something isn't right here. My gut, it's in knots."

"You sound like the widow Akil, all words and intuition." Jake laughed as he stood and stretched, his back popping a couple of times. "When you feel like stopping your menopause or whatever let me know- it was probably a wrong place wrong time thing."

"Yeah…" Embry let the word drag as Jake moved to climb the stairs, presumably to go to the bathroom. Once Embry was alone he finished his sentence. "But even you know you're spouting bullshit."

Jake snuck past Charlie's door with as much tip toe silence as he could, which wasn't much due to the creaking of floorboards. Thankfully the older man kept sleeping- he hadn't gone to bed early and was probably still drained from the night before. Continuing his attempt at silence Jake turned the handle before trying to shut the door in hopes of it not clicking too loudly.

Less than a minute later a shrill ringing blasted its way through the house- the phone was ringing. There was a corded phone in the kitchen that Embry almost leapt to in the hopes that it was the reservation clinic with news that meant a good morning.

"Swan house," Embry said quickly as he picked up the phone in anticipation. He heard two sets of footsteps coming down the stairs as he waited for a response.

" _Yes, this is Dr. Whitehawk with the clinic here on the reservation."_ The male voice on the other end was cheerful and sickly sweet, but Embry rolled with it.

"Oh, hello Dr. Whitehawk- I'm surprised that it's you calling. I thought you only did the private practice at the clinic?" Embry replied then, smacking himself in the face, gave a quick explanation as to why he knew the doctor. "Oh, this is Embry Call by the way. The Chief is here, if you need him."

" _Hello Embry! I wondered why I recognized a voice that certainly wasn't Charlie Swan's! Yes, if you could please put him on the phone that would be a great help."_ Embry turned and held the phone out to Charlie, who had managed to get almost right behind him. Charlie took the phone with a shaking hand as Embry gave him a reassuring smile. The way the doctor was talking this wasn't bad news.

"Hello, this is Charlie Swan speaking." Charlie sounded nervous. Both Jake and Embry thought he sounded almost like a boy trying to talk to his first crush. Embry wondered if that is what it felt like to be a parent to a child in danger or need. He resolved to ask his mother about it sometime.

" _Hello Chief Swan, this is Dr. Whitehawk from the clinic. Do you remember me? You brought Billy here a couple of times for appointments…"_ The doctor began to ramble for a moment before a feminine cough in the background jolted him back to the topic at hand. _"Bella has come to this morning in the early hours. Your officers were called when she awoke and have already gotten what little bit of a statement they could from her. Sadly, she has some memory loss of last night but she is doing well otherwise. A little bit of bruising and a cracked rib but otherwise still doing alright physically."_

"What do you mean physically?" Charlie's reply was quick, to the point, and sharp in its tone.

" _Well, she is having some issues that is possibly related to PTSD- trauma from whatever happened that she may not be able to remember consciously. I was talking with my nurse Sue Clearwater and we wondered if you would be willing to try to help us talk her into coming back here to Sue for a couple of weeks. Sue has a psychology degree on top of her nursing and Bella has opened up to her a little bit in the few hours she's been awake, but I don't know if she already had a woman she might be able to go to…"_

"No, she doesn't really. Not that I know of anyway- Renee won't be much help about this." Charlie thought for a moment before nodding his head. "I'll talk to her, but I can't make promises."

" _That is amazing, Chief Swan! Sue and I believe she can easily make a full recovery, even mentally, but we both know she's going to need help to do so."_ Dr. Whitehawk sounded more relieved than happy but Charlie chose to ignore that for now. _"Bella will be free to be picked up in two hours or so- she just needs to hold down her breakfast and pass a couple of standard coordination tests."_

"Don't hold your breath on those, Bella can trip on air." Charlie muttered with a muted chuckle, Jake guffawed in the background while Embry just tilted his head in confusion. Jake promised to fill his friend in later. "Alright, I will get around and come to pick up Bella here within an hour and a half. Rather be early."

" _Very good Chief Swan, we will look forward to seeing you and seeing Bella safely home!_ " Dr. Whitehawk hung up almost immediately. Charlie turned to the boys who were both waiting expectantly for news.

"She's coming home, guys." Both young Natives gave a whooping cheer and high fived. "You two hungry?"

* * *

Almost exactly an hour and a half later Charlie dropped Embry off at his house, on one of the outskirt neighborhoods in the residential section of the reservation. Embry waved Charlie off as he drove towards the clinic.

Turning towards the beach, a short ten-minute walk, Embry decided he would go see his mother at the souvenir shop. He did have to tell her that Charlie wanted to buy another basket after all.

While walking there his mind swirled again with the same type of thoughts that had bothered him at Charlie's house.

 _Sam hadn't driven to Forks. Sam had 'found' Bella. Sam's fiancé had been there at the clinic when she barely had training for that. Paul and Jared were involved somehow. Sam. Sam. Sam._

Without realizing it Embry hadn't walked to the beach- his feet had carried him down a path towards a quaint little house that had obviously once been grey. It was a nice looking little place, with a window box and a porch that held a couple of chairs. Embry was nearly hurting himself trying to figure out who lived there until he saw the indistinguishable native woman walk out the door, confusion written on her scarred face.

"Can I help you?" She asked, her voice even and calm.

"I'm not sure." Embry replied in what he hoped was a calm tone. "I was trying to walk to the beach and got to thinking- ended up here."

"Well you're a fair sight away from the beach, Embry Call." Emily crossed her arms over her chest as she leaned on one of the supporting beams to the porch. "What were you thinking about?"

"To be honest? Stupid things. But I'm not surprised my feet led me here anyway."

"You were thinking about Sam weren't you?" Emily asked in what was now a nearly nervous tone. "He isn't home currently, went out for a jog."

"As ripped as he is, I'm sure." Embry replied mildly. His annoyance levels were going up for some reason, he didn't understand what was going on. His expression and voice remained calm however. "Emily, can you tell me something?"

"Depending on what you ask, Embry." Emily's eyes darted to the forest. She knew Sam was too far away to be here quick enough if Embry had intentions of attacking her. He'd be able to feel her fear, but he wouldn't be able to get here in time. She sent a prayer up to the Spirits in hopes that Embry was just here on childish whim. He couldn't phase, he wasn't Quileute.

"How did Sam make it to Forks last night if he didn't have a car with him? He walked up to the Swan's house, left with Billy, and no extra cars were in the road or driveway." Embry began and found he couldn't stop. "And while we're at it isn't it a little weird that he just so 'happened' to come upon Bella in the _woods_ after stopping his car for some reason? And why was Bella brought _here?_ She barely comes to the Res, and even when she does she stays pretty firmly at the Black's house or the beach."

Emily opened her mouth to respond and was hushed immediately when Embry held up a quivering hand. Emily's eyes widened as it shook. Could Embry be of Quileute descent? Oh Spirits, if he phases here…

"And why were _you_ at the clinic last night? You don't have much medical training, if I remember correctly. You had been beginning your schooling for it but then you had your accident, which I give my condolences for, and stopped. Why were you with Sue Clearwater? Was Sue even there? And why did Dr. Whitehawk call and say _he_ had been Bella's doctor last night? He doesn't take care of cases like that!"

Embry's words came faster and faster as his body shook more and more. Emily looked at him in complete fear as his body began to nearly seize. Embry _was_ going to phase, whether he knew it or not.

"Why?!" Was the last question out of Embry's human mouth before his entire body literally exploded into shreds of clothing, skin, and fur. The act of phasing was _painful_ , as Emily knew, and he wasn't expecting it. Suddenly, where a boy had been pacing there was now a large and fully freaking out wolf. Emily backed a couple steps away as she tried to talk to the out of control teen.

"Embry! Relax, relax and listen to me! Try to clear your mind. I know there is probably a thousand things going through it right now- trust me! But you have to clear your mind, Embry. Try to listen." Emily was talking quickly, hoping that the wolf would relax enough to hear her words. Sam would know Embry had phased, if he was phased himself, but Emily didn't know what he, Paul, and Jared had planned to do.

 _What the hell?!_ Embry was screaming in his mind as he looked at his body. He wasn't _human!_ He was… furry?! He had a tail? _What the ever loving fuck is going on?! What just happened, I'm a wolf… wait… I'm a wolf?! That's a Quileute legend! I know this story!_

Emily had kept talking to Embry in hopes he would hear and finally he looked up- but only for a moment before he launched himself off to the woods with a whine.

"This is not good at all." Emily panicked as she ran into the house to call Sue and Harry Clearwater. "Oh this is going to cause _so_ much trouble!"

* * *

Embry was running hard and fast, his nose to the ground. Something was pulling him… somewhere. He wasn't sure where, and he wasn't sure why, but there was this tugging at the back of his mind- a need to find whatever was calling to him. He came across what smelled like denim and found some shorts stuffed in a semi-waterproof box in a rotting tree. He grabbed them with his mouth and kept going.

 _I'm going to assume my clothes are fucked._ Embry thought to himself as he ran. The pull was lessening and he was beginning to slow. Looking out of the woods he realized in the early daylight that he had run to the clinic. _What is here?_

Embry stopped suddenly with the realization that he didn't know _how_ he'd become a wolf so it was a damn solid bet that he didn't know how to get _back_ from being one!

 _Hold on… think, think… What would I do here?_ He paced as he thought about how he would write ideas down, list, plan it all out, and then finally try to fix whatever the problem was using that plan. Rewriting as needed, of course.

"What would I do?" Embry said to himself aloud and then realized he was human, and very much naked. His chest was covered in a few nasty red scrapes but they didn't look bad. Looking down at his chest and abdomen he almost gasped. He looked like Paul did suddenly- overly defined abs and pecs. His arms were huge too. All around Embry just felt too… too _big._

Shaking his head and slipping the shorts over his naked form, thankfully they fit even if they were a little loose. He looked to the clinic and could see someone walking outside to sit at one of the tables. The pull in his chest was tightening, he _needed_ to go there. To see them. To meet them.

Running as a human with no shoes was much slower than the wolf form, Embry realized, but he much preferred being on two feet than four. He neared the clinic quickly and realized that the person sitting at the table had wrapped ribs, the bandage stark against the shirt that looked too large. They were also female, and pale, with brown hair that flowed in the light breeze.

 _Could this be Bella Swan? Why am I being pulled to her?_ Embry thought again as he neared the table. He hoped she wouldn't scream when she saw him, because that would completely suck. Embry stopped dead only a few feet from the girl when he saw her skin. It was covered in nearly invisible white scars. They were everywhere! _What the hell happened to her?!_

As if he had said the words out loud the girl looked up. Her brown eyes captured his almost immediately and he felt something inside of himself shift- he was sure that his face probably looked completely dumb. Most likely completely comedic too.

"You've got some cuts, kid." The girl said in a soft and caring voice. "The doctor is in talking to my dad, but Sue Clearwater may still be here. I don't know- she got a pretty frantic call a bit ago."

"Um… I'm okay, they've been cleaned and seen before. I was just here to see why the Chief of Police in Forks was here… saw his cruiser and wanted to make sure there wasn't trouble…" Embry nearly stuttered over his lie- but it seemed like the girl bought it. He reached a hand out between them. "I'm Embry, Embry Call."

Bella looked at the hand and nearly winced before she reached one of her own hands and clasped his. "Bella Swan. My dad is inside talking to Dr. Whitehawk because I managed to get myself in some trouble last night."

"Oh, so you're the famous Bella? Jake talks about you…" Embry couldn't quit staring at the girl. He loved her, but wasn't _in_ love with her. He couldn't see her sexually, which was weird because she was very pretty. She felt more like a sister, or even a motherly figure. What was going on. "Um, not that it wasn't nice to meet you but I've gotta go. Um… I'm gonna be in enough trouble as it is."

Embry began to back away from Bella and waved a little before turning back around and running towards the woods. He thought better of running straight into them and jogged down the road enough to where Bella wouldn't be able to see him before he entered the treeline.

Not even thirty feet in and suddenly he was grabbed by his shoulders and thrust back first against a tree. The hands holding him were strong as Embry tried to shake off the hit to his head, which had smacked the tree too. Once his eyes focused he found himself staring into the stern face of Sam Uley with Jared Cameron wearing an amused expression behind him. A rather pissed off looking, and slightly growling, Paul was who was holding him to the tree.

"What were you thinking?!" Sam didn't yell, but his voice was commanding as he began to rebuke Embry there in the woods.

"Honestly? I wasn't… I just realized thinking gets me in trouble." Jared laughed a little at Embry's reply and Paul pushed him a little harder into the tree. "What? I'm serious…"

Sam sighed and ran his hand through his short hair. "We need to talk, Embry Call."

* * *

 _A/N: To those wonderfully faithful readers: thank you! You really do brighten my day with messages and reviews!_

 _To those who I know will wonder why this particular chapter is so long- it is because I had to get in a **lot** of information here and I couldn't half ass the chapter. I'd rather one long chapter than 2-3 short when I can make it all work if I tweak it a bit._


	11. There is Always Fallout

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

" _Bella?" A female voice that she could just barely place was calling to her. Bella knew she needed to answer that voice, but her throat was so dry it felt like she was trying to breathe through a bag of sand. "Bella, honey?"_

 _Shaking the last bit of weariness off, Bella reached a shaking hand up to rub the confusion from her face- her eyes hurt from the light. After gently wiping away a little bit of moisture from around her eyes, Bella's vision began to clear and solidify._

 _She found herself looking into the familiar, motherly, face of Sue Clearwater. The older woman was giving her a severe look that was broken only by the soft smile that graced her lips. It widened as Bella made a motion with her hands to indicate that she needed a drink._

" _You can have a little water, dear, but not too much." Sue said quietly as she handed Bella a glass with liquid in it. "Please don't try to drink too fast either, we don't need you choking now."_

 _Bella raised the cup to her lips and very gingerly look one of the tiniest sips of her life. Relishing the lukewarm liquid as it ran down her throat she took a few more. A soft but indistinguishable noise of contentment left her lips as she handed the glass back to Sue._

" _Where am I, Sue?" Bella's voice was cracked and strangled sounding- she was barely even aware that it was hers from all of the damage to is. "I don't remember much… but I know I was in the woods."_

 _Bella was lying- she remembered_ _ **everything**_ _that had happened. Edward, the cuts, the venom… the pain. What she couldn't remember was how she got_ _ **here**_ _. The last thing she could solidly remember was Edward and his torture. There were… fragments of other things but they seemed so outlandish that they must have been some form of fever dream._

" _You're in the clinic here on the reservation, Bella." Sue was talking slowly, carefully. Bella noticed but assumed that Sue was just trying to make sure Bella took things well. "You were found out in the woods last night, and you were closer to here than anywhere else; so you were brought here by the men that found you."_

" _Who were they?" Bella asked pleasantly. "I would like to be able to thank them, someday."_

" _Oh, um, well." Sue took a large deep breath. "I'm sure they would like that. Their names are Sam Uley, Jared Cameron, and Paul Lahote. They were part of the team that Billy sent to help your father after you didn't come home last night, he had waited because you had left him a note."_

 _That surprised Bella- she had left no note for her father. It must have been Edward. Bella noted the names to her memory, the name Paul sticking out in her fevered dreams for some reason. It was familiar, but why?_

" _Thank you, Sue. Um, not that I don't enjoy seeing you but… when can I go home? I'm sure Charlie is worried sick, and probably hasn't eaten." Sue smiled brightly at Bella's worry for her father, the gesture garnering a bare minimum smile from the young woman._

" _Charlie will be called soon; we have some tests to run to ensure that you're fully ready but you should be able to go home today." Sue replied with a small laugh- she knew just how much Bella hated hospitals. Bella nodded and reached out for the cup of water again, taking it in silence and sipping from it._

The typical physical tests had been pretty standard. The was just as clumsy as ever, tripping over her own feet repeatedly. Dr. Whitehawk had been unsure if that was normal until Sue told him that it was. Bella had fake-laughed her way through the blundering that was her trying to act like a normal human being.

Her father arrived shortly after all of the blood tests and physical tests were finished and after managing to talk him into letting her out of his sight Bella had walked outside to sit on one of the tables and benches that were outside the clinic. From the burns on them she figured that these used to be where people would smoke once upon a time.

She was wrapped in her own little world when she felt a sudden heat crawl up her spine and into her chest. It reminded her of the same feelings in her dreams, which startled her. She shot her head up and found herself looking at a native boy; he was obviously young, looked like he hadn't fully grown into the body he had been given- couldn't be more than maybe 15 or 16. His boyish face gave him away even if his overly sculpted chest and abs made him look older.

He had cuts all over his chest, she realized, but they looked raw and older. There wasn't any blood- so they weren't new for sure.

"You've got some cuts, kid." Bella couldn't look away from his dark eyes for long. She'd already looked the kid up and down, but his kind eyes kept drawing her in. His hair was unkempt and hung down to his shoulders. The waves in it told her that he usually kept it braided. "The doctor is in talking to my dad, but Sue Clearwater may still be here. I don't know- she got a pretty frantic call a bit ago."

"Um… I'm okay, they've been cleaned and seen before. I was just here to see why the Chief of Police in Forks was here… saw his cruiser and wanted to make sure there wasn't trouble…" The nameless teen reached a hand out as he took a breath in finally. "I'm Embry, Embry Call."

Bella didn't want to touch him, though he seemed safe enough. She didn't really want to be touched or to touch anyone really. Her body still remembered Edwards assault on it. "Bella Swan. My dad is inside talking to Dr. Whitehawk because I managed to get myself in some trouble last night."

"Oh, so you're the famous Bella? Jake talks about you…" There was a rather pregnant pause, the silence fell for a few seconds between the two quiet people. "Um, not that it wasn't nice to meet you but I've gotta go. Um… I'm gonna be in enough trouble as it is."

With that Embry began to back away quickly, almost at a run. He waved at her once- which she returned gently- before turning away from her to jog off down the road. Bella found herself smiling slightly, something she hadn't done since she had awoken, as she watched the kid leave. He had felt warm, talking to him had seemed normal. She didn't know why, but she wanted to see him again- just under better circumstances.

Charlie came out of the clinic moments later with Dr. Whitehawk, the two men talking animatedly about making sure that Bella came back for a couple visits with Sue to talk if needed, and to remind the Chief that he and his daughter were always welcome on the reservation. The Chief had long since earned respect here and his daughter had always been helpful and caring during her visits both when she was younger and now.

"We'll be seeing you, I'll make sure Bella comes back to talk to Sue when she's feeling up to it." Charlie said as he walked towards his daughter, he wondered why she was looking into the distance with a soft smile- but he would take the smile either way. He was worried that it would be a long time coming before he saw a real smile on her face again. "Bella, you ready?"

Bella turned to face her father slowly, the look on his face told her that he was waiting to see if she was going to be okay right now. Charlie had been acting like she was going to fall apart at any moment. Which, to be honest, she did feel like she could.

"Yeah, dad. Let's go home." Bella gave a small wave to Dr. Whitehawk and accompanied it with the tiniest of half smiles. "Thank you so much, Doctor. I don't know what I would have done without you and the men who found me. Is there any way I can repay you all?"

"I can tell you that Sam, Jared, and Paul all love baked goods." Dr. Whitehawk gave a hearty laugh and pat his own stomach. "Come to think of it, so do I!"

Bella nodded. "Thank you for the idea." With that she walked off towards the cruiser. She wanted to get home, she wanted to rebuild, she needed her room and her space. She truly felt in danger of falling apart at the seams.

Charlie turned and gave the doctor a final goodbye before following Bella to the car. She looked to be holding up- but he was sure the fallout was coming. He'd been a cop long enough to know that the fallout always came, and sometimes it was just as horrific as whatever caused the trauma in the first place. He would just have to be ready.

* * *

Embry had been pulled rather forcefully through the woods by Paul, who wasn't letting the younger man go come hell or high water apparently. A couple times he had attempted to wrench his arms free from Paul's grasp only to be greeted by growling from his captor and a clenching of already locked tight hands. Embry was completely sure that he was going to have bruises.

Add that onto his already weird day and he had the cherry on top of the sundae. What was going on?!

Finally, after what felt like hours but in reality had been maybe fifteen minutes, the group of men walked into the clearing that led to the Uley/Young household. Emily was standing on the porch again, a tray of what looked like muffins of some kind in her hands. On the porch there stood Joshua Uley, Harry Clearwater, and Billy Black; Embry wondered what part of the council was doing here.

"What is the meaning of this, Sam?" Joshua asked his son, the younger Uley ignored his father completely for a moment and moved to take a muffin off the tray and give Emily a large hug accompanied by a light kiss. "Sam, what are you doing with young Call? Why were we summoned here right now?"

"That would be my doing, Joshua." Billy interrupted in his usual council voice- he was projecting power and leadership all while trying to keep the situation as calm as he possibly could. "It seems, against all odds and without showing the usual changes… Well it seems that our pack has gained a new member." Billy gestured to Paul who let Embry go, the younger male immediately deciding to rub his arms where Paul had been trying to cut off his circulation. "Come here, son."

Embry walked up to the porch as slowly as he possibly could. He didn't really want to know what was coming next- but between Paul's growling at his back and Billy's calm waiting before him there was no going back now. He wasn't even sure if this was really happening, his mind had made itself up that he must be dreaming.

"Embry Call, your mother is of Makah descent and this has been proven. By the grace of the council she and yourself have lived on Quileute lands, and both of you have been credits to your ancestors through your sacrifices to the land on which you are tied." Billy began calmly, taking a deep breath before he continued. "However, we must now ask something of you that you never should have had to experience. Through your acceptance of the Spirit Wolf it has become obvious that your father must have been of Quileute heritage- though that is not what we must ask from you."

"What is it, then?" Embry asked in a quiet voice. He wasn't necessarily nervous, but he'd always been kind of a quiet guy. "What have I to give that the council wants of me?"

"You have the gift of the Wolves, Embry Call." Billy's eyes were sad in a way that Embry did not understand. "Through the blood of your father you have inherited the great gift of the Spirits that was bestowed on the Quileute nation. And as a Spirit Wolf the council must ask you to cast aside your childhood and take up the mantle of a Protector. We must ask, humbly, that you give of yourself to protect the tribe and the land, until your death should it come to that."

Embry was confused and his expression made that very clear to Billy. The young man seemed to think about things for a moment, silence fell between the group of natives. Only the sound of Jared eating what looked like an entire armful of muffins broke the silence, but it was an ignorable sound- white noise compared to anything else.

"I can cast aside my childhood for my home, Billy." Embry began, holding a hand up to stop the older man from talking and interrupting him. "But, I would like to know just _what_ I'm protecting it from."

* * *

 _A/N: Yes I am changing the timeline about Embry and his change. This will also be the last chapter, for a while, that focuses on the wolves in such a way. There really isn't anything to continue here (aside from the legends but those come in later and I didn't want to bore my lovely readers by doing it twice)._

 _To answer a question I was posed in a private message: Yes I am writing this story in a narrative way with character specific viewpoints. Meaning that while it doesn't read as 'I felt this' but instead 'Bella felt this' it does follow the ideas, characteristics, and personality of the main character of the chapter. So when Bella is the main it should read more like it is from her, when Embry it should read as if him, and so on._

 _Thank all of my readers and reviewers! I really didn't think this story was going to appeal to so many, especially with the way I opened it, and it has been such a boon to me to see people liking the writing and the work involved. So I extend all my gratitude to you, the comments and love has made this completely worth the anxiety involved with putting it out there!_


	12. Silenced

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

 **Time Jump: It is now near the END of October- so around 3-4 weeks have passed.**

* * *

Bella looked around her room again as she tried not to fidget too much. Her chest was pulling at her again and it was making her nervous and twitchy. She didn't understand why, though she and Charlie both figured it was lack of sleep that was doing it.

Bella hadn't slept more than two hours a night now for over a month. She awoke in terror, night sweats, and frozen in place- silent screams tearing at her throat. She was glad that Charlie didn't know just _how_ bad it had gotten, he would be very worried if he had.

 _What are you doing, Bella?_ Bella admonished herself in the mirror as she checked her appearance for what felt like the thirteen thousandth time in the last five minutes. She was trying to make sure all of her scars were covered. October or not she didn't feel like having to explain, again, to another person about her attack or her scars. _Salt in the wound, much? I hate lying…_

Not that anyone would believe the truth. Though she was pretty sure the nicely padded room she'd get thrown in would be comfortable.

Charlie peeked in on his daughter once again, she was checking her reflection again. Her wounds from that night had all been shallow according to Sue and Dr. Whitehawk but whatever they were made with had caused what looked like hundreds of little white scars that crisscrossed her whole abdomen and legs, with a few on her arms as well.

She wasn't verbal anymore, not that she'd talked much before the attack. Charlie noticed her silence much more now, though, and he was worried. That was why he was taking her to the Black's house today. Billy wanted the company and Charlie was hoping that Jake could get his childhood friend, and obvious crush, to talk to him.

She needed to talk.

Bella turned to her father and gave him a small smile. She used her hands to motion that she was ready and moved to pass him as she walked out the door. Charlie almost stopped her but thought better of it. She was still _here_ and that was all that mattered to him. Sue had warned him that Bella was going to be different after what happened. She even warned him that it was entirely possible for Bella to be completely comatose or worse- which confused Charlie because what was worse than comatose? Dead probably.

Charlie followed Bella down the stairs after a moment of looking in her room. She had moved some things around and redecorated a little, she was using some native paintings and art that she'd picked up recently at the reservation to brighten her walls. There was also a small wolf figurine that she kept at the window, he had caught her staring at the small silvery carving a lot.

He'd asked her about it once, and she had merely shrugged and written 'Don't know. Makes me feel safe.' On the notepad she had taken to carrying in her back pocket.

Noise in the kitchen caught the police Chief's attention and he turned to see Bella packing three pretty hefty baskets, something she had bought down at the reservation, with what looked like enough baked goods to feed an army in each. There were cookies, muffins, brownies, and even a single two layer round cake in each basket.

Bella hadn't been sure what the trio of men who had found her would want- so she had apparently made a little, well a _lot_ , of everything. She had delivered Dr. Whitehawk's gift of chocolate covered pretzels and nuts a few days' prior during her final round of testing. Her blood was deemed clean and she had no lasting physical damage, other than the barely visible scarring, from her incident in the woods.

"You ready to go, Bells?" Charlie had taken to the nickname some time ago and Bella didn't seem to mind him calling her it, in fact it usually managed to make her smile a bit. Bella nodded in response to his question. "Are you going to be okay to drive yourself? I know you want to drop those off and you can't drive the cruiser… but I'm going to be honest, I'd rather walk than drive that Beast of yours."

Bella laughed silently at her father's joke and nodded again, pulling out the notepad from her pocket. Writing quickly, she held it up for Charlie to read.

'I know the way, I can follow. I just need Jake to show me where at least one of them lives.' The words were a little sloppy but Charlie could read it just fine. Years of reading worse chicken scratch from his officers had made reading Bella's hurried writing a breeze in comparison.

"Okay, kiddo." Charlie lightly ruffled Bella's hair and grabbed two of the baskets. "I hope you made some for Jake too, you know he'd feel left out if you didn't save him some." Bella pointed to a smaller Tupperware with cookies and brownies in it, Charlie laughed at the sight. "Don't know why I thought you'd manage to forget him!"

Bella smiled and grabbed the final basket and Jake's Tupperware of treats. She was nervous for some reason, very nervous. She didn't know what she was going to do when she met the men, if she did meet them, who had saved her. Admittedly Bella was finding herself truly wishing that a girlfriend, mother, or wife would be the one to receive the baskets and read her explanation. She had written it yesterday and after what felt like a hundred tries, though in reality had been twenty, she finally got it right and perfect.

Climbing into the cab of her truck Bella situated the baskets and container next to her. Her hand brushed along the top of the baskets for a moment before she heard her father honk his horn once at her- letting her know he was ready to go. She shook the feeling off best she could and started her Beast. She loved her truck and knew she would be very sad to see it go when it inevitably did.

Watching the back of the cruiser as well as the road as she drove gave Bella a moment to think about things in her mind. She could speak, she knew that. It wasn't like her vocal chords had stopped working due to what _Edward_ did to her. She shuddered at the thought of his name and pulled one of her hands tight around her chest. Thinking of any of them, even Emmet or Alice, made her feel like she was going to break apart. It hurt so badly.

She had talked a couple times after she'd woken up. The day after it happened was her most verbal day in weeks, though, because she'd talked to both Sue and to her elusive native friend Embry. She had been meaning to ask Jake about him, especially since Embry himself had mentioned Jake so she assumed they were friends. She'd met another friend of Jake's recently- a quirky and overly sexual boy named Quil. He was relatively relaxed, just young.

 _Why am I so afraid to open my mouth and talk?_ Bella thought to herself as she put her hand back on the wheel. _What am I afraid will come out? Will I scream? Cry? Will nothing come out at all?_ She had fought this with herself many times before but had never managed to get anywhere with the idea really- something in her was stopping her from talking. When she was ready, apparently, she would talk.

But not before.

All too soon the drive to the Black house drew near and she parked her giant red truck behind Charlie's cruiser. Charlie got out of his car and called out to Billy, who was sitting on the porch with a beer in his hand. Those two were like peas in a pod and it always made Bella smile- Charlie needed more friends like Billy and Harry.

A tapping on her window made Bella jump high enough her seatbelt actually stopped her, hurting her shoulder a little from the sudden stop. A frantic apology, muffled by the glass, told her that it had been Jake who had wrapped on the window.

Rolling her eyes as she unbuckled, grabbed his container of sweet treats, her prewritten notes, and finally mustered the courage to get out of the truck. Looking at the ground as usual she wasn't even paying attention when she hopped out- a mistake that almost made her fall over. Warm arms, more muscled than Jake's should have been, caught her as Jake's voice drifted to her ears.

"Careful Bells, you know you're clumsier than anyone I've ever seen." Jake laughed a little. Mistaking the confusion on her face for annoyance he quickly went to cover his rear. "Not that clumsy isn't cute! It's very cute… when you do it. Ugh… um, you know what I mean?"

Bella just sighed and handed Jake the container of food and held up her first prewritten note with one hand while she nabbed the notebook out of her pocket with the other.

'These are for you, a thank you for putting up with me. And a bribe in exchange for help.'

Jake opened the container and saw what was inside then gave a rather large and loud whoop of glee. "Bella you made me brownies- I'll be your slave at this point. Whatcha need, hon?"

Bella held a finger up as she wrote a quick note for Jake on her notepad. She hadn't been prepared for his appearance- it was so starkly different and it had only been two weeks since she had seen him last. Twelve days to be exact if she thought about it.

'What happened to you? You're **huge** and suddenly look like a twenty-year-old…' The note was to the point, just like Bella would have been if she had said it aloud. Jake outright laughed at it and almost dropped his goodies before he steadied himself. Bella waited patiently, hands on her hips, for him to quit laughing.

"Dad says I hit the typical Quileute growth spurt. He showed me pictures of him at my age and I have to agree- a year earlier and he looked twelve, got close to his sixteenth and suddenly looked to be mid-twenties. Harry said it happens to everyone as they grow up here. He made a claim about the land and everything, I almost laughed at him but dad would have smacked me good for that." Jake rubbed the back of his head a little, the motion causing his single braid to move a little- he had taken to keeping his hair braided at all times now. "Either way, it's a total load of bullshit."

Bella rolled her eyes and decided to drop the subject there as it seemed to make Jake uncomfortable. Instead she held up her next note.

'You said that you didn't like Sam Uley- but he _is_ the one that found me. I want to thank him and the others, Jared and Paul. I have baskets of baked goods in my truck but I don't know where to deliver them. Charlie said you could lead me to Sam's and that a woman named Emily would make sure Jared and Paul got theirs. If I drive can you lead me there?'

Jake internally winced a little. He really didn't like Sam Uley- especially recently. Embry had just suddenly stopped coming to school a few weeks back, started sneaking out, breaking rules at his house. Tiffany had called _many_ times looking for him at all hours and all Billy could say was that he didn't know where Embry was. Jake had a suspicion that his father was lying but he didn't have the guts to try to call him out on it.

But after about a week of those calls, not seeing Embry at all, and just generally nothing as far as news he reappeared as suddenly as he left. Except he was different, changed and not necessarily for the good. He was much larger than he had been, and more muscled. The only reason Jake had noticed was because he rarely wore a shirt either. The worst part was, however, that he now suddenly followed Sam Uley around like a puppy or a baby duck. It made Jake sick to see in all reality.

But, Bella had asked nicely. And she did give a mean bribe.

"Yeah, Bells, I can lead you there." Jake walked around the front of the truck, stopping when he realized that Bella hadn't moved. "What? You asked now, I figured you'd want to go now."

'I was expecting a fight.' Was the note Bella held up at him as she climbed into the truck. Handing Jake a second note that read: 'Where to?' she turned the key and the engine kicked to life.

"Take a right when you reach the road," Jake said as Bella backed out of his drive. He felt like sweating bullets but tried to hide it for Bella- she was probably much more nervous than he was. "It'll take about fifteen minutes to get there- it's on the edge of the residential part of the Res."

Bella just looked at Jake and shrugged as she shifted gears and took off to their destination, Jake leading the way with his directions.


	13. Wolves on the Baskets

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

When Jake had said that the house was on the edge of the residential area he wasn't kidding, she had literally driven to the _edge_ before the woods stretched far and wide on the side of the road. It had also become a well beaten dirt road instead of even semi-paved like some of the roads on the edge of town.

"Just take this to the end now, Bells. This literally turns into Sam Uley's driveway." Jake said, his voice giving away the nerves that had kept eating at him. Why had he agreed to come here? It freaked him out, a lot. Sam was leering at him recently, always making excuses to come and see Billy- staring at him the whole time he was there. "I'm probably going to stay in the truck, Bella. Unless you need me?"

Bella thought for a moment before pulling out her notebook again and slowing down. After pulling over to the side of the dirt she wrote quickly.

'If you are uncomfortable that is okay, I don't want to make you do something you don't want to do. I know you don't like him.' Bella gave Jake the paper and a small smile, he read it nearly three times over as Bella pulled away and began moving towards Sam's house once again.

"Okay," Jake smiled and reached over to gently push a strand or two of Bella's hair behind her ear. His eyes travelled down her face and neck, the thin white scars pulling his attention for the barest of moments. He had always like Bella, that was true, but Jake was beginning to feel like it was becoming closer to _love_ than he had suspected.

The fact that she didn't flinch away from him when he had seen her flinch from others gave him a great smile on the inside. Even after whatever happened it was that happened to her she wasn't afraid of him. He had admittedly been getting scared due to his changes in size the last few weeks. Hell, Jake had managed to scare is _father_ after he got out of bed one day- so he felt that his worry about Bella being afraid was completely logical.

The sudden stop of the truck gave Jake a jolt, he had been so wrapped in watching Bella drive that he hadn't been paying attention to just how close she had gotten to Sam's house. It was a quaint place, really, he just really didn't like the man of the house who lived here.

Bella turned and gave Jake a soft smile and a slight squeeze on his shoulder. She gathered the three baskets carefully into her hands. They were lightly shaking- that invisible pull in her chest was coiled tighter than a watch spring. She felt like it was going to suffocate her soon, so Bella closed her eyes and took one deep breath.

She didn't know why, but whenever she closed her eyes anymore she would see another pair staring back at her. They ranged in color but all had a slight glow to them- and none of them were human. They reminded her of a set of wolf eyes. Large and lupine.

Opening her eyes again she saw Jake staring at her. The young native man was worried and opened his mouth to say something- but she held her hand up to stop him. Giving a small shake of her head Bella's half smile gave Jake the resolve to know that she was going to be okay.

Bella turned from the truck and began to walk towards the porch. The screen door was open and she could hear light singing inside the house, that of a woman. She hoped desperately that it was Emily and that Emily was alone. Bella wanted to thank Sam, Paul, and Jared but that didn't mean she wanted to _meet_ them. Not yet.

She wasn't ready.

A rather beautiful native woman stepped from the house, Bella nearly gasped at just how beautiful she was. The right side of her face held scars that looked angry and probably hurt constantly in the cold damp of winter but they did nothing to detract from the beauty of the face as a whole.

"Hello, can I help you?" The woman's voice was deeper but still soft and smooth. It was gentle and Bella would have described it as being like water. Emily knew who she was looking at but she couldn't tell Bella that. It had been decided, after some fighting, that letting her know just how many people had been there that night… that it wouldn't help her heal.

Bella stopped and pulled out her pre-written notes and handed them to Emily, who took them gingerly and began to read.

'My name is Bella Swan, and I am the daughter of Chief Swan from Forks.

I was told that this is where Sam Uley lived- and if I am correct then you are either Sam or Emily Young. These baskets have baked goods in them, as a thank you to Sam, Paul, and Jared for helping me when I was hurt and needed it. There isn't anything different in any of the baskets; bags of cookies, brownies, and a single two-layer six inch round cake in each.

I am sorry to intrude like this without calling first- but I have found talking to be… difficult since the incident. I'm sure you heard what happened, small towns and news- or gossip depending.

If you could please make sure that these baskets get to them that would be amazing. Thank you.'

Emily wanted to cry as she read the words on the paper. They were a little crumpled and the writing was shaky in places- as if Bella had cried as she had written them. Emily read the words again, saddened for the loss of Bella's voice- but she knew that the girl would find it again. She was hurting, what had happened had been traumatic- this was expected.

The wolves didn't have to like it. Emily didn't have to like it. _Paul_ didn't have to like it.

Emily looked up and gave a smile. She knew the boys would be along in a moment, they would have heard Bella's truck from miles away with that distinctive engine it had.

"I'd be happy to take them and make sure they get to the boys." Emily gave a soft and warm smile to Bella, looking over the girl's shoulder the smile widened. "But if you wait all of a minute you can deliver them yourself." Bella paled when Emily motioned to something behind her. She could hear them now, footsteps. Not and just one set.

Bella turned and found herself looking at four half naked native men. All looked nearly overly ripped, tall and built just like Jake had become. He wasn't kidding about that whole Quileute growth spurt he had mentioned.

The only one she recognized was Embry, the other three she didn't know at all. She scanned them with her eyes, coming to rest on the one who stood opposite on the line than Embry. His eyes were intense, boring holes into her body.

They made her feel warm, wanted, and also scared. The way he looked at her, _into her_ , it was as if she were nothing more than prey. He had an almost feral look in those dark eyes, even more so in the smirk that graced the rest of his features. Bella found herself looking down his body before she could help it, a blush running up her neck and face.

"Sam, this is Bella Swan- if you remember her." Emily said with a pointed look from Bella's truck to the back of her head. Jake had seen them come up and was glaring multiple daggers at their group- in particular the newest member of it.

Bella gave a wide smile and took a deep breath, stepping forward. She wasn't sure why- but she knew that this time when she opened her mouth words would come out.

"I, um, I wanted to thank you. My dad, Charlie, he said that you found me in the woods that night, Sam." Bella held up the first basket to the taller of the men, the one in front. She assumed from his stature that he was Sam, and it seemed she was right when he smiled and didn't correct her. She turned her head to the other two men she didn't know, her eyes travelled down to her feet for a quick moment. She thrust the baskets out a little. "Um, I'm going to admit that I don't know which one of you is who- so these are for you two."

The one on her right was taken by the man standing next to Embry. He took it with a bright smile and inhaled the scent of the baked goods deeply before giving a hearty laugh. "If you want to thank me more often you're _more_ than welcome- these smell delicious!" He laughed again and shook Bella's still outstretched hand gently. "I'm Jared by the way. Nice to meet you while you're conscious!"

Bella's head shot up so fast that her neck cracked a little as she did so- making all the men wince. She gave Jared a smile and nodded her head a little.

"You're welcome. And I like to bake, so I made sure to make all of you plenty of options." Her smile faltered a little as she looked at the man who was now staring at the baskets instead of her- it made her feel better and worse at the same time. "I promise they aren't poisoned, Paul. You can take them."

"The baskets have wolves on them." Paul's comment brought everyone's attention to the baskets Bella had bought and brought. They did, in fact, have wolves on them. They were stylized in the typical native Quileute art fashion- but they were wolves nonetheless. Sam's basked had black wolves, Jared's had brown, and the one held out to Paul had grey. They were _their_ wolf colors. Paul's eyes narrowed. "Where did you get these?"

"I bought them down at the souvenir shop. I think Tiffany Call made them, in fact." Bella's eyes glazed over as she remembered buying the baskets with her father- who had almost shamelessly flirted with Tiffany as they checked out her three wolf baskets and his slightly smaller version that was covered in what she _thought_ were ravens. "I just felt like these ones worked. I liked the designs on them."

Bella let the sentence trail and used her right hand to trace the wolves on Paul's basket- he still hadn't taken it from her. Paul reached out slowly for the basket handle, his hand brushing against her own as he grabbed it. The touch was like electricity and fire all in one- the shock and shiver ran through both of them.

"Bella…" Paul started but was cut off by the slamming of one of her truck doors. Paul's eyes shot up and he gently grabbed Bella by her shoulders, pulling her beside and then slightly behind his own body. Bella wondered why until she saw Jake's face as he walked up to the group.

He was literally shaking, and Bella had never seen him that angry before. His hands were clenched tightly and he walked close enough that Paul actually stepped away from Sam- pushing Bella away with his back as he did so.

"Too good to even talk to me anymore, huh Embry?" Jake was almost growling, his voice was deep and dark and angry. "Can't even tell your mom that you're okay. Sneaking out, running off, ignoring your friends and family. And for what, huh? For what?!"

Jacob's body was near convulsions- Bella tried to step around Paul to calm her friend down only for Paul to hold her back with his arm. She looked up at the man holding her in place and he fixed her with a stern look and a small shake of his head. He then turned back to watch Jake and Sam, who had stepped between Jake and Embry.

Sam drew himself up to his full height and size. He gave a quick look to Jared, who started to slide away toward Emily who was frozen in place on the porch. Jake paid Jared no mind but now he was looking from Sam to Embry and then over to where Bella had obviously tried to step around Paul only to be stopped by him.

"You don't know of what you speak, Jacob Black." Sam said in a deep and commanding tone, he was calm otherwise. "Embry has been called by his tribe to give of himself and cast aside his childhood and his innocence. You do not understand, so you have no right to judge him."

"If he was called by the tribe or council his mother would know what was going on instead of going to my father or Charlie Swan to try and figure out where her son is at all hours. Why is he skipping school? Why is he lying? Why is he breaking his mother's heart? The council would never call a _kid_ to do such a thing." Jacob stepped forward and growled, Bella was surprised just how animalistic it sounded. "You're full of shit, Sam Uley!"

When Sam and Paul both took steps forward Bella took her chance and dodged around Paul to reach Jacob. She flung herself into his chest and hugged him tightly, he gasped and rocked back at the touch of her. His eyes lightened and his trembling began to lessen little by little. He wrapped the girl in his own arms, receiving a low growl and a death glare from all the men in front of him- it was worse from Paul but Jake matched him look for look.

"Let's go, Jake." Bella said into his chest, trying to walk him back towards the truck. She was pushing with all her might and the literal _only_ reason that he was moving was because he wanted to- he wouldn't have otherwise.

Jacob kept his eyes locked onto Paul's, conveying a very clear message that whether or not Paul liked it Bella was _his._ Always had been, always would be. It had been Jake and Bells for years- that hadn't changed even when Edward had been here and it _certainly_ wasn't going to change just for _Paul._

Bella practically **shoved** Jake into her truck cab, shutting the door and practically running around to her side. She hopped in and fired the Beast up, kicking up a range of dirt with her tires as she backed out as fast as she could.

With one last look at the four confused men she gave a half smile, an apologetic smile, as her eyes locked onto Paul one more time. She mouthed the words 'I am sorry' to him as she turned her truck around and drove down the road with Jake still fuming next to her.

* * *

"Sam?" Paul said as he watched Bella drive away after mouthing an apology to him. He didn't know just _what_ she was apologizing for but right now she had a hell of a lot. Paul's wolf wanted to run after her, wrench her from that truck and away from the unstable _puppy,_ and whisk her off to his cabin. He didn't want to ravage her, not _yet_ anyway, she wasn't ready. But he wanted her **here** , beside and with him- where he could keep an eye on her and hold her, tell her things were going to be okay.

"Yeah, Paul…" Sam rubbed the back of his neck as he looked at the basket of baked goods in his hands.

"Jacob Black had better phase soon; because I am going to beat him until he can't get off the ground." Paul growled angrily. "And he'd at least survive it as a wolf."

Embry leaned over towards Jared and in a rather loud whisper decided to set one hell of a bet.

"I've got ten dollars on Paul trying to bite Jake's hide off within an hour after he phases." He held his hand out towards Jared.

Jared laughed and rolled his eyes. "Too long, he's gonna try to kill him within half an hour."

The two shook hands and walked into the house while Sam stepped up to Paul's back.

"I know you don't like it, Paul, but think about it- she _talked_ for us." Sam said as food for thought to the man who was still staring in the direction his imprint had driven. "It's not much consolation but it is something."

"You're right," Paul started as he looked down at he basket of goodies. They smelled delicious and he was rather hungry. "But that doesn't mean I like it."

* * *

 _A/N:_ _Thank you so much to **all** of my readers, those who have commented and reviewed, and those who have favorited/followed this story! You guys have managed to keep me sane while I've tried to get all of this to fit a little into the timeline that was the cannon Twiverse. There will be another small time jump in the next chapter (from October to December and then again from December to February). After those there **shouldn't** be any more real time jumps, and I apologize about using them at all but the plot kinda calls for it- my bad._

 _Anyway- I would really like to say that I am very thankful and appreciative of the support for both my story and the amount of work that I've tried to put into it. I can't say that I'm the ultimate Twilight fan but I do like to be as thorough as I can when I'm writing FanFiction._

 _Another, and final, thing: I am using both the books **and** the movies for this- so there will be places that something happens in the movies but **not** the books and vice versa. Just letting you know!_


	14. Baking for the Holidays

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

Halloween had come and went, as had Thanksgiving without incident. Charlie and Bella had spent the day down at the Black house- Charlie had never been one to actually celebrate Thanksgiving. Growing up near a reservation had changed his views on some of those 'holidays' so he just found it easier to treat it like a normal day than anything else.

Bella had gone back to being nonverbal within three days of meeting Sam, Jared, and Paul. Charlie thought the regression was abnormal but thankfully Sue Clearwater had explained to him that maybe seeing Sam had brought about a feeling of something _good_.

She hadn't remembered the native man _but_ he had been one of the ones to find her, to save her. Subconsciously, Sue had told him, it was likely that Bella remembered him in a way that her conscious mind didn't recognize. It was something people who survived trauma had that those who had not sometimes didn't.

Charlie was checking on Bella again when he heard a stumble in the kitchen, the clatter of a bowl hitting the counter bringing him out of his thoughts and off of his chair. Peeking around the archway opening he saw Bella covered in what looked like some kind of batter, but she was smiling and doing her silent laugh again.

"Trip on something Bells?" Charlie asked as he walked into the kitchen and dining area. They had been overtaken by baked goods- everything from holiday sugar cookies, all frosted and ready, to small cakes and even what looked like bags and bags of chocolate dipped nuts, pretzels, and little balls of cake. "Decided to make your holiday bonus worth something?"

Bella had bought all of the ingredients for her baking by herself- she had taken quite a bit of overtime at Newton's store (thankfully Mrs. Newton was a sympathetic woman, having survived her own trauma years ago) and Bella had also done some work down at the reservation for Sue and Harry Clearwater- who had paid her in some of the more expensive things like the nuts and a brand new pan, something called a spring form.

Bella looked up at Charlie and gave a wide batter-covered smile. She nodded and picked up the whiteboard she had taken to carrying around the house, it wasted less than a notepad when she was at home.

'I wanted to give people gifts this year, everyone has been so kind.' Bella wrote as she turned back to the bowl she had dropped. She erased the note once Charlie nodded, a sign that he had read it. She leaned down and wrote again. 'Glad I got enough ingredients to make everything about six times. I lost about half of this batch!'

The batter in the bowl was unharmed so Bella went about scooping it carefully into the sugar cones she had set up in a pan, moving them to a smaller pan when she realized that her original idea wouldn't work due to losing so much of the batter. She smiled once she had the batter gone and set her bowl in the sink.

Bella was so happy that Sue Clearwater had given her a bit of a present a little early. Sue had replaced her mixer with a new one and when Leah did not want the first Sue offered it to Bella as a gift in thanks for keeping her company so much these last few months.

It had come with multiple beater attachments and a ridiculous amount of bowls but Bella loved it- made baking so much easier for her.

"Well looks like you've made enough to feed armies, kiddo." Charlie said with a smile before covering a yawn. He had been working long days recently due to giving some of his guys a little bit of extra time off. He was wore right down to the bone. "I'm going to head to bed, okay Bells? If you need me let me know, and I'll come running."

Bella smiled and nodded to her father, moving to give him a small one-arm hug to avoid covering him in the batter as well. Thankfully it had been a typical yellow cake batter instead of a more complex angel food or sponge cake- she would have hated to replace that.

Once she heard Charlie close his door upstairs Bella's chest began to unwind a little. There was that telltale pull again, always a pull anymore. It seemed to want her to go to the reservation which is why whenever she could after school, around work, or on the weekends she was there. It lessened the tightness but nothing ever made it completely go away.

Jake did his best to make things better, he invited her over for warm sodas and time in his garage with him and Quil quite a bit. He was rebuilding a car, something called a Rabbit, and a few bikes he and Bella had picked up. She had found them for near free in Port Angeles and decided that since they _were_ fixable she would have Jacob do it since he had been talking about wanting to learn more and do more- Jacob eventually wanted to own a shop of his own if he could wrangle it.

Bella had loved the look on his face when he saw the bikes in the back of her beat down truck. One was closer to a street bike than the other, it had been modified a bit beyond a normal 'dirt bike' but had obviously seen better days. The other was a typical off road bike, no modifications beyond what looked like an aftermarket seat. Jake had warned her the parts would be a little bit of an expense but it wasn't a big deal to her- she'd help him out and then he could sell the bikes later.

All told it had made his holiday season, since Bella wasn't sure if he and Billy celebrated Christmas, a good one. He had already ordered a good portion of the parts needed, including a new engine for the modified bike- to make it fully street legal.

The pull in her chest suddenly lessened, bringing Bella out of her thoughts and back into her kitchen. The timer hadn't gone off, there was still about five minutes left on this batch of ice cream cone cupcakes and she was mid-mixing a new batch of batter to replace the one she dropped most of.

A noise on the porch, light footsteps, brought Bella close to the front door. She leaned her ear against the door and heard what sounded like snuffling and almost a purr. Bella backed away from the door with a gasp, the pull in her chest tugging her towards the handle of the door- she put her hand out towards the handle.

Her fingers touched the handle and the snuffling noises grew louder for a moment before footsteps seemed to run from the porch. Bella wrenched the door open but no one was there, nothing showed any signs of anything having _been_ there either. She wished for a moment that the rain earlier in the week hadn't washed away the little bit of snow they had.

Bella stepped forward to look outside and her foot hit something. Looking down she almost laughed outright at the sight of what was at her feet. Because there, in a neat little pile and held together by a ribbon, was a pile of native made baskets. It was the baskets she had delivered to Sam and the boys, plus an extra. The new basket had the same design on its handle and rim, except this wolf was a darker grey than the other- it actually made the first one look almost silver from the distinct differences in shade.

Bella looked around but saw no cars, no bikes, and no one running or walking away. She shook the feeling that she was being watched and gathered the baskets with care. Obviously the boys wanted more goodies- a thought that was solidified when she saw that the baskets held things like butter, chips for cookies, both types of sugar, and flour. They were bribing her, and it was kind of cute. She giggled, the first noise to come out of her throat in quite a while.

* * *

In the woods, hidden by the dark and the trees, a silver wolf watched as the pale brunette grabbed the baskets he had just delivered. Returning the baskets with baking supplies had been Jared's idea after hearing from Sue Clearwater that she had given Bella her old mixer.

The first set of goods had lasted all of two days- and that only because Paul found himself actively trying to make them last. It had been rough, Bella baked really well!

 **Jared:** _How is she doing? I've been going nuts for weeks now- second hand news from Sue doesn't do much good._

 **Paul:** _I know that all too well, Jared. Think about me for half a second- I can't even tell my_ ** _imprint_** _about what I am, why her feelings might be changing… anything… all because Billy Black is so damn worried it would be 'too much' and it would break her._

 **Jared:** _How does he think she's going to handle Jake disappearing too? He's gotta be within a couple months or less of the change- he finally quick growing vertically and is now just buffing out a bit. I'm actually surprised Sam hasn't been trying to antagonize and force the change yet._

 **Paul:** _He doesn't want a repeat of Embry- I think. That kid wasn't ready to shift when he did; though according to Billy it was probably because he stayed here that night. I could smell it on the porch, you know. The lingering stench of a leech, the same from the woods. He had to have been here a_ ** _lot_** _for that._

 **Jared:** _Well they_ ** _did_** _date, right?_

 **Paul:** _Don't remind me_

Paul physically and mentally growled. His wolf was getting antsy not being able to see his imprint, talk to her, hold her. Not that Paul really _enjoyed_ the idea of being imprinted to Bella Swan. She had been a lover to a leech, and her silence was something he took for being broken up over him still.

He tried to _kill_ her and she was broken over him. It was disgusting.

Paul shook his head and ran off towards home, to meet Jared at the border of their treaty line. Even without the Cullen family Sam decided that running patrols in their own territory was smarter right now, with the pack being so small.

 **Jared:** _Now that's not fair. You can't tell me that you don't smell it when she's near- her natural and untouched hormones. She's a virgin through and through._

 **Paul:** _Doesn't mean he hasn't touched her._

 **Jared:** _Then by your own rules Bella should have the right to be angry at_ ** _you_** _when she realizes that she is now tied to you for her life. How many women had_ ** _you_** _touched? How many women have_ ** _you_** _had sex with?_

 **Paul:** _Stop it, Jared._

 **Jared:** _No, come on. How many women have_ ** _you_** _felt on your dick? How many?_

Paul unleashed a feral growling roar as he came up to the treaty line where Jared was. He launched himself into the air and landed on his pack brother with a snarl. Jared had been braced defensively so they didn't roll as much as Paul had expected.

 **Paul:** _I told you to shut up!_

 **Jared:** _And I'm not going to! She is like my_ ** _sister_** _, or did you forget that_ _all_ _of us imprinted on Bella Swan? Sam feels more fatherly than brotherly to her but Embry and I_ ** _both_** _feel like her brothers and you have done nothing but switch between wanting to hold her and wanting to punish her for her choice in friends!_

 **Paul:** _She put herself in direct danger to be with that, that_ ** _thing_** _! How am I supposed to forgive that?_

 **Jared:** _Have you ever thought that maybe Bella sees the_ ** _good_** _in_ _all_ _people? Have you ever thought about what she could do when she finds out about_ ** _you_** _if she weren't so kind hearted? You mistake her ability to look past the faults for weakness and see it as something to be shameful of!_

Paul landed a halfway decent bite onto Jared causing him to yelp and lash out with his back legs- which launched the silvery wolf into a tree. The tree splintered under the pressure but did not fall.

 **Jared:** _So, Paul, by_ ** _your own logic_** _how do_ _you_ _deserve_ _her_ _? She has helped out around the reservation now for a couple months, spent time with Jake too but she's also helped out- Sue said she's been a boon with some of the older residents. You have brooded, snarled, and gotten_ ** _angry_** _over shit because_ ** _you_** _think_ _she_ _isn't worthy. Really?! At least she isn't whoring herself around to the first dick that throws itself!_

That was the last straw for Paul and he launched himself from the tree towards Jared. He wanted _blood_ , it didn't matter anymore that Jared was a pack mate and a brother. He saw nothing more than someone who had just told him that he didn't deserve his own imprint- that he wasn't _worthy_ of his imprint.

A split second before Paul collided with Jared he was stopped by a rather large black shape hitting him at the force of a freight train. It was Sam in full angry alpha mode.

 **Sam:** _ **Jared, Paul, you will quit this**_ _ **now**_ _ **.**_

The command resonated with both of the wolves it was directed at and they both lay down on the ground and instinctually rolled into a submissive position, Paul a beat behind Jared after some hesitation. Sam regarded both of them and then snuffled both, scenting them, before he walked away enough for them to roll over.

 **Sam:** _I don't know what started this but it is_ _ **done.**_ _Jared, I don't like his thoughts about Bella either but she_ _ **is**_ _his imprint and right now that is something we cannot interfere in. Paul- Jared has his right to tell you how he feels and that does_ _ **not**_ _mean that you can attack him when he does! You_ _ **are**_ _treating Bella like shit by going to other women- in fact I can barely figure out_ _how_ _you're even doing so! When I tried to be with Leah after imprinting on Emily it almost_ _ **killed**_ _me._

 **Paul:** _Well I am what my imprint needs. And right now thanks to_ _ **you**_ _and the fucking_ _ **council**_ _I don't mean_ _anything_ _to her! She doesn't even_ _ **know**_ _that she needs me so I can't even be_ _ **anything**_ _to her! You have me boxed so far back into a fucking corner that I'd_ _ **rather**_ _take the meaningless sex than continue to sit here and wonder when the fuck I'm even going to be allowed to_ _ **be**_ _something to my imprint!_

 **Sam:** _When she is ready, Paul. That is_ _ **all**_ _we have asked of you. Time._

 **Paul:** _Well figure out how much time before I take matters into my own hands._

Paul then ran off, letting the instincts of the wolf take over- which shut out all but his alpha. Sam and Jared stared at the retreating wolf, both feeling nervous about that last statement. Jared because he knew Paul could be a bit of a rash hotheaded idiot when he was pushed, and he didn't want to see Bella suffer more than she already had.

Sam, on the other hand, was worried because of the _tone_ in which Paul had said that last statement. That hadn't been Paul talking, at least not the _human_ part of Paul. That had been the wolf, the spirit with which he shared his body, talking.

And wolves were **very** good at getting what they wanted when they wanted it.

* * *

 _A/N: I had to make this into a two-part chapter because I couldn't get Paul and Jared's confrontation to fit at the end, and putting it here made a weird cut in the plot progression in this one. So the next chapter will be the second part of this one (the holiday chapter) and then chapter sixteen will find us at the time of Jake's phasing and then things **should** pick up a little faster from there. _

_I am sorry to burn this one so slow, but this particular idea of mine is a rather... complex... one and I needed to have the time to build all the foundation pieces before I built on them in later chapters._

 _Thank you to **all** of my readers and reviewers- it really does mean so much to me to know that there are so many of you who are sticking by all of this boring setup before we get to the actual romance part of this story as well as the real meat of the plot line._


	15. Not Good at Sharing

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

Bella baked herself into a whirlwind stupor over four days total, the second of which was the day that the baskets were left in front of her door. She had stared at them the next day before breaking down with a smile and using some of the ingredients within to make more goodies. She had already intended to make small gift boxes for them but obviously they wanted their baskets refilled- made her wonder whether or not she would have to do this for them _every_ big holiday.

Not that Bella would have minded, she liked baking and cooking- any excuse to do either made her rather happy. Cooking was an escape for her, a way to break free from the hold the depression and fear had on her mind; a place she could go to create things that may not have been magical but always had the magic-like ability to make people happy.

She didn't know one person that didn't perk up at the thought of homemade food or baked goods.

"Are you delivering to the reservation today?" Charlie asked as she loaded boxes of packaged goods and the baskets into her truck, he had helped her carry some of them out. "I'm going to be working late so if you decide to stay there for a bit… won't upset me at all."

Charlie was trying to get Bella to spend more time with Jake. Billy had backed off a little about Bell and Jake's possible future relationship but Charlie had been observant and noticed that Bella seemed better after spending time with Jacob Black. She wasn't back to her normal self completely, since she still wouldn't talk to more than maybe Sue every once in a great while- but she seemed happier, closer to healing.

Charlie didn't want to lose that.

Bella nodded to her father in an offhanded way as she counted the packages, baskets, and boxes in her truck cab. One present was missing, her brow furrowed a little before Charlie tapped her shoulder and she turned to see the wrapped book set in his hands. He handed it to her with a smile.

"Someone on your list not like sweets so much?" Charlie asked with a glistening smile in his eyes. Bella shrugged a little and tilted her head to one side. "Oh well, I'm sure whoever they are the book will be something they enjoy- you were always so thoughtful with gifts."

Bella gave one of her silent laughs, her chest and shoulders lifting and falling as if she were truly laughing. She had been smiling more recently, especially after getting her gift from Sue and realizing that she would be able to bake everyone on her list a gift box. Although some people, like Angela Webber, got other things like chocolate covered almonds or even the big batch bag of homemade Chex Mix she had made Ben and Mike- neither of the boys liked sweets much, though Mike wouldn't turn down a cookie if offered.

Bella climbed up into the truck and turned the keys in the ignition, Charlie shut the door for her as she buckled herself in. She leaned out the open window and gave her father a real quick hug, something Charlie had grown accustomed to in the last few months of her life- whatever had happened to her that night in September had made her more affectionate towards her old man. Not that Charlie would complain- he had missed so many years of being a dad.

"Be careful, Bella." Charlie said as he kissed her forehead gently. "I love you, kiddo."

Bella signed 'I love you too,' back to her father. Sue had given her books and been teaching her some sign language. Thankfully Charlie managed to pick up some of the basics as well- because it made telling him simple things so much easier this way. Less writing or flash cards.

* * *

In no time at all Bella found herself pulling into the Clearwater driveway, it was the first stop of many for her day. Made Bella glad that it was only ten o'clock or she would be here until tomorrow to deliver everything.

A young native woman with an overly serious expression poked her head out the door and gave a wide smile to the pale newcomer. She stepped out of the house completely and held her hand up to Bella in a friendly wave. Her face, even lit by a smile, was still very serious and strict in nature- but the woman behind the face could be very gentle when she wanted to be.

Leah Clearwater just rarely _wanted_ to be gentle. Not since her heart was broken by Sam, not since her love was stolen by her cousin Emily, not since her life was upended over the course of less than a weekend. Leah hadn't really _been_ Leah ever since. But somehow, in the injured and silent Bella, Leah had managed to find a friend in whom she could not only trust but also be herself with again. If only for a little while.

Bella got out of her truck and moved to embrace Leah, who had hopped off the porch of the house to properly greet the pale girl. They held the hug for a moment before Leah released Bella and pushed her back a little bit to examine the girl.

"You're looking thin again, Bella." Leah admonished in a chastising tone, a roll to her dark eyes. "If you keep losing weight there's going to be nothing left of you, and then what would happen to me?"

Bella laughed her silent laugh, joined by Leah's own. She lifted her hand and signed to the native woman.

'I guess you'd have to learn to like other people.' Bella's smile was as wide as her face, her eyes alight with mischief as her words sunk into Leah's brain. The other woman rolled her eyes and lightly pushed on Bella's shoulder, knocking her into the door of her truck. 'Keep being like that and I'll give Seth your cheesecake.'

"Now that is just cruel and unusual punishment, Bella Swan." Leah replied as she hooked her arm around Bella's shoulders and walked with her to the passenger door on the truck. "Now, which ones of these are for here?"

Bella pointed to four different packages, all in different boxes. Leah picked up two of them and Bella grabbed the other two herself. The two girls laughed together, one silent, as they walked up into the house to deposit the gifts.

Seth was asleep on the couch, a game controller in his hand and half of his body nearly on the floor. He hadn't hit the growth spurt yet- but Bella could see it blossoming. He was young, graciously so, and it was nice to see his innocence in her world of pain and blood.

Bella dropped Sue's gift into the fridge, chocolate dipped strawberries and some homemade fudge, and left Harry's gift of homemade trail mix and white chocolate raisins on the table, the white chocolate tended not to melt as badly as the milk chocolate once it was tempered for dipping. Bella didn't understand it but she didn't question it either.

'I have to go, unfortunately.' Bella signed towards Leah. 'Will you still be coming over for dinner next week with your mom?'

"We'll be there, Bella. Wouldn't miss it for the world, you're making what again?" Leah clapped Bella on the back lightly as the girls turned to the door.

'Prime rib, Billy helped me get one hell of a deal.' Bella replied with her hands, shuffling her feet a little. 'He doesn't know yet, I just wanted him to have a night with friends- he's been working so hard.'

"He has, been in and out of here just as much as Forks from what I can see." Leah hugged Bella real quick as they reached the door. "He's a good man, your dad."

'He is.' Bella signed as she turned to leave, turning back she gave a smile. 'Goodbye Leah, I'll see you next week!'

"See you, Swan." Leah smiled as Bella walked away to her truck, the native girl leaning on the doorframe. Seth snorted in his sleep in the background, causing Leah to look at her brother and yell. "Hey, Seth! Get up, you got a present!"

Bella turned her truck back on and decided to keep plugging along with the gift giving. She had many gifts to pass out today and didn't want to miss anyone.

* * *

Three hours later Bella found herself outside the Black household. She could hear Jake in the garage as she pulled into the driveway. Quil poked his head out of the door with a cheesy grin on his boyish face. He turned and yelled something back into the building while Bella parked her truck.

This was a good thing, actually, since she had Quil's gift with her still. She didn't know where he lived and was going to trust Jake not to eat them and give the goodies to his friend.

Not that Quil wasn't her friend too, in a way, but they didn't talk as much as her and Jake or Quil and Jake did.

"Bells!" Jake said as he ran out of the garage with a wide smile, tripping over his own feet and boots a little but he managed to stay upright- something Bella would have never been able to handle on her own two feet. He flung the door to the truck open and gave Bella a suffocating hug that warmed her down to her bones.

"Jake, man, let the girl breathe." Quil said a little sarcastically as he leaned onto the hood of the monstrous red truck. "She already doesn't talk, want to stop the breathing thing too?"

Jake turned his head enough to fix Quil with a serious and severe glare, shutting the smaller of the two boys up very quickly. Quil held his hands up in a mock surrender as Jake released Bella and pulled himself back a little to look her over.

"Bella, are you not eating again? You've lost weight, and you're paler than snow at this point." Jake laughed a little as he looked his friend up and down. Her condition broke his heart a little, the pale of her skin allowing for the white scars to show bright against the rest of her skin- her loss of weight didn't help in places where the cuts were visible at all times, like her jaw and neck.

Bella knew she couldn't sign to Jake so she grabbed out her notebook and huffed as she wrote a couple things down for him and Quil.

'I'm eating just fine, just haven't been feeling well lately- don't know what it is. I can't stay long today Jake, I am dropping gifts off and I still have one more place to visit before I head home to make Charlie dinner, I wanted to surprise him at the station.' Bella's handwriting had gotten much better in the last few months, it was now completely legible even when written so fast.

Jake nodded as he read the note and smiled, giving Bella another deep hug and kissing the top of her head. Bella flushed a little, but it was more from embarrassment at being treated so childlike by someone younger than she was. She loved Jake, she truly did, but not in the way that Jake and Charlie both hoped.

Maybe someday, but someday was not today.

"Well I won't keep you if you still have somewhere to go, okay? Just promise to visit me before next week? We're spending new years at your place- right?" Jake said as he tried to remember the timeframe of things.

Bella nodded her head vigorously. She and Billy had already planned everything out, though their house was small it could accommodate those who were invited for a little bit of fun on New Year's Eve. It was the first night off Charlie had for weeks now, and Bella wanted it to be special for him- especially with how hard this year had been on both him and her.

"Which ones are ours, Bells?" Jake asked as he eyed the wrapped gift, couple of boxes, and the baskets. He knew who those were for, he recognized them. He didn't like the idea of Bella being around them- especially with the way Paul had manhandled Bella the last time, but he knew Bella had a kind heart and would never leave anyone out if she was making gifts on a grand scale.

Bella grabbed the boxes for Quil and Jake, both marked with their names. Billy, due to his diabetes, had been much harder to get a gift for but Bella had finally settled on some new fishing lures and other odds and ends that Charlie had helped her pick out and pay for- it was a join gift from both of the Swans.

"Thank you Bella, I'm sure dad will love them- he's talked about wanting to replace some of these…" Jake said as he looked at the lures in the box, he replaced the lid and leaned in to give Bella another crushing hug. Quil was happily munching on some no bake cookies in the background. Giving her another kiss on the top of her head, Jake leaned back and gave Bella a soft and loving smile. "It's good to see you doing better, Bells. I know this has been hard for you- but I am so glad that you're better. I just wish you could find your voice again."

Bella gave Jake a small, sad, smile and mouthed the words 'I'm trying' to her friend before reaching out to shut the door. Jake moved so she could shut it and leaned on the open window. He was looking at her in a calculating way, calm yet not demanding of anything else. Bella cocked an eyebrow and tilted her head in confusion at her friend, her sun.

"Nothing, Bells." Jake laughed as he pushed a little strand of Bella's hair back behind her ear. She leaned lightly into the touch almost unconsciously, he was always so warm. "Just thinking about how nice you always are, sometimes you're too good to people."

Bella cocked her head in confusion again as Jake walked away without another word, he looked back and waved once as he walked up to the house to deliver Billy's gift to him and then dig into his own. They never kept sweets much, so Bella's homemade ones were always a welcome sight to his stomach.

Bella just shook her head and turned the engine one more time, she was now headed to her last stop- Sam Uley's place.

* * *

Driving down the long dirt road Bella found herself thinking about the baskets again. How they had been left, the weird noises on the other side of the wooden door. She was probably overthinking things again- she did that a lot anymore.

Bella pulled up to the Uley house to see it oddly almost devoid of life. Something felt off, but Bella couldn't place it as she climbed out of her truck and grabbed the baskets and wrapped up books. She hadn't wanted to give Emily something silly like more cookies when Sam's basket was full of them- however Sue had let slip that Emily loved baking herself so Bella had found some interesting cookbooks with baking recipes galore and picked them up for the young native woman.

Walking up to the door she raised her hand and knocked lightly on the glass, waiting.

"Sam and Emily are out, Bella." A deep voice sounded from behind her, making Bella whip around so quickly that she stumbled backwards into the glass of the door and nearly dropped the gifts. The russet skinned man laughed a little, his smirk widening as he took in the sight of the pale girl. Her face was flushed and her breath hitched from the scare. "Sorry. I shouldn't have snuck up on you."

Bella found herself staring into Paul's eyes. They were darker today than they had been before, darker and much more dangerous looking. He was tense, that was obvious from looking at every line in his body- the way he held himself, the line of his shoulders. Something wasn't right here, her heartbeat began to race.

He was looking at her like she was prey again. Oddly, however, it caused a warming sensation at the base of her stomach just as much as it caused her to be wary and a little afraid.

 _Wait, fearing him is turning me on?_ Bella thought to herself as she straightened up and resituated the baskets, resting one of them on a chair next to the door so she could hand Paul his.

"Here, these are for you." Bella said, her voice quivering a little. It was impossibly soft, and sounded like silk to Paul's ears. He relished hearing that voice, although he winced internally at the fear that showed in the quiver.

Paul reached out gently to grab the basket as Bella adjusted her hair with her other hand, a small kick of a breeze brought her scent to his nose. She smelled like spices, as usual, almost as if she had just baked pies or something. In the same instant the breeze brought her smell it also brought another, male and musk-like in nature. Paul knew the smell well, he had to endure it every time he was around the little piss ant who it belonged to.

 _Jacob Black_.

Paul instantly changed his course, his eyes darkening to an impossible black color, as he grabbed Bella's wrist lightly instead of the basket. He pulled her to his chest in the same motion as taking the basked from her hand, resting it on the ground next to where he stood. Bella gasped as her body collided with the solid heat that was Paul's chest, the muscles beneath the skin moving with every breath he took.

"Um, Paul?" Bella squeaked out, her voice cracking a little out of fear. She hadn't been held like this since _Edward_ , and even then it had always been at a distance and with much more care. "Paul?"

Paul wasn't listening anymore, though, as he backed Bella up against the sliding door of his Alpha's house. Sam would smell their scents together, would know that Bella had been here- and that was only _if_ he managed to miss the baskets and wrapped present on the chair next to the door.

Paul breathed in Bella's scent, seeing where it mingled with Jacob's. He was going to cover it with his own, he didn't want to smell any other male on her other than _maybe_ her father- and that was only because they lived together and he was the sire of his mate.

" _Mine._ " Paul's voice came out in a low growl as he kissed the same spot on Bella's head that Jake had. Bella's breath hitched, her heart felt like it had fully stopped for a single moment. What was going on? Paul began trailing his mouth down Bella's head, past her temple and to her ear. He placed a single kiss beneath the skin of her lobe, growling again at the scent of the girl. She was getting aroused but it was marred by fear.

"Paul, what?" Bella's voice sounded so far away to her own ears, she wasn't entirely aware of what was going on. She had been swallowed by Paul's heat, surrounded by his arms and drowning in the scent that was so fully him, so fully male. He felt like home, he felt like safety… but neither of those things stopped her from being afraid.

"You. Are. _Mine._ " Paul emphasized each word with a kiss, trailing them closer to where her neck met her shoulders, he was searching for something- Bella could tell. She didn't know what it was until his mouth met a particular spot- the hollow area right above her collar bone- because she gasped aloud the moment he kissed there.

Paul nearly purred a chuckle, so deep in his chest was the noise that Bella wasn't even sure he had _made_ one to begin with. Paul pulled back for a moment to look at his imprint, her eyes were darkened with arousal though the rest of her face showed confusion. The man in him wanted to pull back, to stop her fear, to hold her and tell her that everything would be okay- that he wasn't always like this. The wolf, the instincts, in him however managed to retain their control over the body in which they shared and under the wolf's want he leaned in and kissed Bella.

Paul's mouth overtook Bella's with demanding want, her initial gasp into the intense kiss giving him the opening he had needed to search and take from her. She gave all she could and still wished to give more of herself, bringing an arm up to wrap itself into the back of Paul's hair, pulling her body closer to his. Bella moaned lightly into the kiss from the demand of Paul, causing the man to pull back with a smirk- though just barely.

"I'll say it again, little Swan, you are _mine._ " He kissed her again, this time less demanding but no less needy. When Bella gave into him once again he pulled back, causing a soft moan-like gasp to spill from Bella's lips as he trailed his own back down her face and jawline to that delicious spot on her neck. "I'm sorry, but I do _not_ share."

And with that Bella felt a set of teeth sink into her neck, the pain was blindingly intense- almost like that of James when he had bitten her in Phoenix. Her body was traitorous and arched up into Paul's as he held her, however, the scream died on her lips as he covered her mouth gently with the hand that had been wrapped in her hair.

When Paul pulled away from marking his mate, from at least _beginning_ the process of making her his and **only** his- the wolf backed away into his mind just enough, satiated finally, that the man was able to take control. Bella was barely conscious- his bite had been deep and hard but there wasn't much blood.

Paul held her close, tightly hugging his imprint to his chest. He looked around in fear- he had to get her somewhere she could be safe. He didn't think he was going to knock her out! Spotting Bella's truck, he bent down carefully and grabbed the basket she had given him and then leaned her into his arms bridal style to carry her. Thankfully she had left her keys in the ignition of the truck, it meant not having to grope her to find them- a small favor compared to what he had just done.

Laying Bella's head on his lap as he turned the engine of the truck on Paul pushed the poor thing to its limits as he reversed quickly out of the end of Sam's drive. He was so fucked. Running a hand through his hair as he thought about where to go, he had to hide the truck too, Paul looked at himself in the mirror.

"Good going, Lahote."

* * *

 _A/N: I know, I know, I left it on another small cliff hanger- but I really didn't want to go **too** much further here. The next chapter will be a sort of... reflection... on this one and then we will pick back up again and get moving towards Jake's phase. I am not keeping to the schedule (March in the book, or movie, can't remember) that is set by the Twilightverse but I am keeping to a particular timetable in my own head- just to let my wonderful readers know._

 _Speaking of you all, I must say that you guys made my day with my last few chapters. The amount of private messages with little things people noticed, including a couple fun conspiracy theories, have made me smile quite a bit on a bad day._

 _Thank you all- I really do love my readers!_


	16. Protect Me

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

 _Bella found herself once again in that place between life and death, between sleep and awake, that dark place she had visited in her dreams a few times since that night Edward attacked her. It was still dark, the Venom still circled her like a predator waiting for the prey to lose strength or hope- the wolves still stood by her side, waiting for something to call them forth to destroy the Venom._

" _ **So, Warrior, you have returned fully this time."**_ _The great wolf's voice was the first thing Bella 'heard' as she came to in the dark place she had tried so hard to run from._ _ **"There are things you cannot escape, Daughter, and this is one of them."**_

 _Bella turned towards the great wolf and noticed that not only were her wolves standing around her but they had also gained one. He was smaller than the others, a great dark grey with black patches in his undercoat. His eyes were watching her warily as she tried to sit up. A sudden and sharp pain on her neck caused Bella to rub it only to find her hand bloody when she pulled it back- she gasped aloud at it and stood instantly only to become lightheaded and stumble back down._

 _The larger silvery wolf caught her with his nose, not allowing her to fall again. She looked into his eyes and saw something akin to repentance. Bella didn't know why but this wolf seemed sad, and that made her sad too in a deep way. She reached out and scratched behind his ear, running her fingers through the warm fur on the back of his head._

" _ **Have you made your true choice, Daughter? The time is coming for that. There is only so much you will be able to do without the full strength of the pack."**_ _The ancient wolf watched her movements as she idly stroked the silver wolf she was leaning on._ _ **"You now hold the mark of two, and you cannot live like that. No one can split themselves into two."**_

 _Bella thought about that for a moment, scrunching her face a little as she tried to remember what the wolf was talking about. Mark of two? What did he mean by that? And why did her neck her so badly? Why did her skin burn with ice?_

" _I need to know, Great One." Bella said the words before she even realized what she was saying. "If I am to make a choice then I must know. I submit myself now for teaching and eventual judgement."_

" _ **I can do neither, Warrior. But I can lead you to the one that can teach you. However, for me to lead you… you will have to accept the truth. The entire truth."**_ _The great wolf was speaking in riddles again and it turned Bella's stomach just a little, causing her to growl slightly. The wolves, including her silver friend, made laughing motions- it even sounded like they had laughed beneath the almost purring noises they made._ _ **"You will have to bring your two conscious minds together- Warrior. It will be painful; you have run from this far too long for it to be pleasant."**_

" _What do you mean?" Bella asked as her eyes were drawn to the Venom, it was still hissing and sputtering outside of the invisible barrier that the great wolf had said was of her making._

" _ **You must fight that, and you must win. The venom in your body will not go away- not without help from the outside. But in here, within your deepest inner self, you can fight it. You can take its power away if you draw on the power of your pack, young one."**_ _The great wolf stepped forward, causing all but the silver wolf to back away in what looked like reverence._ _ **"I will not lie and say that it will not be painful. Your body, your mind, your very soul will be a battleground- and even one such as I do not know what it will do to you."**_

 _Bella looked at the Venom, it had once again taken the shape of Edward- a snarling and angry Edward with dark and deep red eyes. She winced away from the sight which gave the Venom cause to laugh at her- a laugh that echoed in the deepest reaches of her._

" _Pain I can accept and overcome, Great One." Bella turned back to the aged wolf and moved away from the silver furred one, it tried to stop her with a whine and a soft tug on her arm with its nose. Bella turned to the wolf who had followed her all these weeks through her dreams and smiled. "I can do this, you know. I am not afraid of pain."_

" _ **The lack of fear will help you, Warrior, but it will not save you completely."**_ _The great wolf's voice made Bella turn her head around and look at him, she gave him another smile and knelt in front of him. He waited, staring down at her in silence as she seemed to fight something out in her mind._

" _I am ready to choose, Great One, I am ready to fight." Bella said as she allowed her body to move of its own accord. Her hand snaked up and felt the wound on her neck, pulling her fingers back bloody again Bella began to draw a symbol from the wound on her neck down to her chest. She didn't know what it meant- or why her hand seemed to know just where to put the lines- but she allowed it to happen. When she finally felt like whatever she had drawn was finished she looked down, on her chest and in her own blood was an image of two wolves done in a tribal style that she knew but couldn't place. The wolves perfectly framed the center of her chest, and in between them she had drawn a stylized female form. Bella assumed it was hers. "I choose the pack, Great One."_

" _ **Then it is done."**_ _The great wolf looked at Bella and then out at the Venom, it was even angrier than it had been before- this fight was not going to be an easy one._ _ **"Now you must do something that will begin the pain, and it will not end until the battle is over. Win or lose you must endure the pain, are you ready?"**_

 _Bella nodded and waited for the instructions from the great wolf, who had turned his back on her and now seemed to be almost addressing the other wolves, all of whom had lined up and were coiled and waiting. When the great wolf turned back to her Bella stood at his look and gave him stare for stare in the silence._

" _ **You will need to drop your shield, Warrior. The time for hiding is over, and you must be vulnerable now to win. Whatever you do, whatever pain you feel- whatever it entices you with do not bring your shield back. This is a test you must pass trusting only in your pack."**_ _The great wolf looked her in the eye with a rather hard look, he was trying to convey just how serious that order had been._ _ **"You will lose if you allow yourself the safety, this is not a battle that can be won in the shadows. You will have to find your light and come to it- do you understand?"**_

" _Yes, I do." Bella replied with a nod, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes as she tried to concentrate and find the barrier in her mind's eye. She had learned, in her short trips here when she was dreaming, that she could control it- make it larger or smaller at will. But to remove it completely? She had never tried. "Well, here goes nothing."_

 _She found the barrier and began to break it down with her will. Her instincts told her to stop but she pressed forward, finally breaking whatever dam in her held the barrier in place. It fell and disappeared in one instant._

 _And then the pain began._

* * *

Paul had driven the back roads to his house- which was nothing more than a small two story cabin set just a little way into the forest. He was lucky enough to have been given this much by the tribe after he filed for emancipation rights a year ago. His mother had left him and his father to fend for themselves- which worked great if they weren't together.

Paul's father had only ever been good at looking after himself- Paul was a footnote.

He parked the red truck in the shed next to his house. He could close the doors and hide the truck from view of any humans who may come to look- they wouldn't be able to see the truck without actually looking- and there wasn't any human that Paul knew who would come looking.

Picking up his little Swan as carefully as he could he kicked the door shut nearly hard enough to shatter the glass of the window- he thanked the Spirits that it did not. He didn't need anything else to go wrong right now.

"You'll be okay, little Swan. I've got you." Paul said as he carried her gingerly. He threw the door to the shed closed and ran up to the house. He hadn't locked it this morning, another small favor, so he was able to enter it without any issue. He thought about locking it behind him but he knew better- anyone in the Pack would just break the door down once they realized what had happened. Bella groaned a little in his arms, he pressed his lips to the skin under her ear and above the mark. "You'll be okay, Bella. I promise, you will be okay."

He carried Bella through the house and up to his bedroom on the second floor. It had been renovated by himself, Sam, and Jared into a bedroom with its own bathroom within the last few months- which gave him his own private area on the upper floor of his house. It was a nice retreat, with a large and fluffy king sized bed. It was covered in silvery sheets; they were so close to the color of his fur it made him laugh sometimes. They had been a gift from Emily.

He laid Bella down on the bed, as close to the center as he could manage, and backed away with a shuddered breath. What had he _done_? Paul knew what that mark on her neck meant, the implications of it. The finality of it all. He, the wolf, had taken what little choice Bella _did_ have and ripped it from her in the form of another wound on her already scarred body.

 _God damn it, Lahote! What the hell were you thinking?!_ Paul's anger rose but he managed to stay away from phasing by looking at his frail and fragile imprint. He looked at the alarm clock next to the bed, it read 1430- or 2:30 in the afternoon. Sam and Emily had been due back at their house about ten minutes ago. Jared and Embry would have been back at Sam's house by then as well- Jared had been training up in the mountains with Embry, far away from the tribe.

Paul had been left to protect it alone- which worked well because they hadn't seen or smelled a single leech around the reservation since the night the Cullen 'family' had left town. Good riddance in his mind. More trouble than they were worth keeping a treaty over.

Bella groaned again in his bed, her form shifting a little amongst the sheets. She turned her head just enough that the mark glistened in the light- her blood slowly leaking from the wound. The saliva on it would keep it that way- for now. But he had little choice in what to do now, especially if Bella remained unconscious.

A mate, imprint or not, had two choices once marked. They could either accept the marking, willingly going through the pain a second time and letting their wolf bite them once again, this time licking the wound clean and letting it heal with the strength of their combined life forces. Or, more gruesome, the bite would fester and rot- killing the wolf and the mate together in what the Keeper had once described to Sam as torment.

Paul looked to his imprint, his mate, his marked… He longed to reach out to her, to touch her, to hold her. The wolf inside him kept growling 'ours' over and over as it tried to urge Paul over to the bed. It didn't want to mate with Bella, but it did want to finish the marking process before Sam or the council could get in the way.

And somehow he just knew that they would get in the way.

"Oh, little Swan." Paul muttered as he walked to the bed, climbing in and pulling his mate to his chest. She seemed to relax into his touch, calming a little. Paul lay there and gently ran his fingers through her hair, waiting.

He didn't have to wait long for the ear splitting howl that broke the silence of the woods. Sam, at least, was coming. Paul steeling himself for what was to come- he would not get out of this bed for anything. He _finally_ had Bella in his arms again, and there was no force that could tear him away from her this time. Not even his alpha.

The door to his cabin crashed in a few short minutes later, feral growling filled the cabin. Paul fixed his eyes on the door to his bedroom and he waited. They could come to him.

Within seconds Sam appeared, his eyes wild and angry, followed by an equally angered Embry and Jared. All three of his pack mates' eyes were feral in their anger, righteous in the sins they pinned him with. Paul had broken rules, many rules, and he knew it just as well as they did.

"What did you _do_ Paul Lahote?!" Sam screamed at his third in command. He could see the bite mark on Bella's neck and the fact that she wasn't conscious did not escape his observation either. "What have you _done_ to her?!"

"She…" Paul took a deep breath and thought about how to say it. "She came to the reservation to drop gifts, and I will admit that I followed her from a distance. I can't see her any _other_ way, now can I?"

Sam flinched at the implications but growled for Paul to continue.

"She went to your house last, after going to the Black house- the only place I did not follow her to." Paul said with grit teeth. If he _had_ followed her things would have been rather explosive- Paul's wolf _really_ didn't like the idea of sharing Bella with anyone. "I found her at your house, though, and I waited for her to knock on the door before I informed her that you weren't home."

"And then what, you fucking dumb ass?" Jared's usually carefree self was gone, his eyes narrowed at his pack mate. "You just decided to mark her there on the fucking porch?!"

"It wasn't part of my plan, no." Paul's growl was deep and menacing enough that at least Embry had the smarts to step back. Sam actually moved _towards_ the bed, just in case he had to quickly get Bella to safety should Paul phase. "I had only intended to take my damn basket, let her know I could get yours to you guys then leave. But when she went to hand me the basket her scent made it to me. She smelled so good, so much like herself… but she also smelled like Jacob Black. He had touched her, held her. My wolf went insane at the smell on our mate, so he took over. It happened so fast that I couldn't get control back."

"Your wolf took over and you _didn't_ phase?" Sam asked as calmly as he could- which wasn't very calm to be honest. "I didn't think that was possible."

"Neither did I Sam, but you know that _I_ wouldn't have done this." Paul replied and pressed forward with his explanation. "I couldn't get control of my own body. I pulled her into me and then backed her into your door. I… I kissed her, held her close, told her she was _mine_ and that I didn't like to share. I _think_ that I apologized before I bit her- I can't really remember. The wolf instinct to mark was so strong that I lost myself in that, I couldn't think of anything else than piercing her skin with my teeth."

Sam sighed and stepped away from Paul and his imprint, who was laying so still she seemed almost dead. He rubbed a large hand over his face and then back across his neck. This was now a problem, and it was one that he didn't have the only say in.

"Embry, did you call them?" Sam asked quietly.

"Yes, Sam, I did. Someone will be along within ten minutes, to see the real damage, and then Paul and you will be required in front of the council." Embry's voice was strained as he looked at his sister in Paul's arms. She looked so pale, so fragile. Compared to Paul she looked like porcelain- and Embry found himself worrying about whether or not Paul had just broken her without even meaning it.

A car engine was making its way down the road at a fast clip- Sam knew that engine perfectly. Joshua Uley had been sent to see and examine the extent of the damage to the girl. Sam closed his eyes and began to breathe deeply and evenly, a way to prepare himself for what was coming.

"Paul- you know that this is a tribal matter as well as a Pack matter. I cannot make any decision without the acceptance of the council on this matter." Sam was beginning to use his Alpha voice; everyone could feel the power of it. "You will submit yourself to the judgement of the council, Paul Lahote, and on this matter you will accept their judgement without retaliation or defiance. Your actions shall cause judgement on two souls today- I hope you are ready for the consequences."

Paul's eyes widened as his face paled a little, he had not thought about that. Sam could make Pack decisions to a certain extent but the council still had the right to say whether or not a wolf could mate and mark- due to the implications of combining life forces involved. They could stop a wolf from marking his own imprint, though they couldn't technically stop the imprint itself.

He held Bella a little bit closer and rubbed his hand over her hair, placing her head on his chest. He would hold her close until they ripped her from his arms right now, for too long the council had denied him the right to be in his imprint's arms. He _needed_ her, just as he knew in his bones that she needed **him** too.

Sam motioned to Jared and Embry as the car pulled into the driveway of Paul's house. They both ran off downstairs and out the door, to stall whichever council member had just arrived just long enough for Sam to tell Paul something else.

"Paul, I can't help you this time. As angry as I am at you… well, the imprint in me tells me that she _needs_ you, and in a weird way I can't explain… that she needed **this** too. I can't say why; I keep seeing it- in my dreams. I know she needs this, but I truly do not know why." Sam said low enough only for the other werewolf to hear, he didn't want to risk Joshua ignoring Embry and Jared and hearing this. "The Pack will protect her until the end- no matter what the Council decides."

Paul nodded and began to tense as he heard footsteps coming through his house, he didn't know yet who the council had sent- but this still wasn't going to be pretty.

As the steps began to ascend the stairs suddenly Bella, who had been still and limp until now, suddenly tensed up and sat- eyes wide and screaming. The screaming was a piercing scream, one of pain not fear. Whatever was going on- she was in pain, terrible pain. In the same moment all four wolves doubled over in their own pain- Embry hit the ground on the stairs and actually tumbled down a few of them.

Bella turned to Paul, who was clutching her in one arm and his own body with the other, and she gasped air. The screaming stopped as the choking sound took over for a moment- just long enough to break both Paul and Sam's hearts in their _need_ to help.

"Protect. Me." Bella gasped as she fell back to the bed in a silent scream, her body arching off the sheets towards the sky. She lashed and rolled, Paul actually moved away from her and off the bed itself. She was unconscious once again as she rolled, twisting and turning in her pain.

Thankfully the pain for the wolves lessened when Bella lost consciousness again- allowed them all to regain their composure. Joshua Uley stood in the doorway of Paul's bedroom with wide eyes; he didn't know what he had just witnessed but he knew that in no way did it bode well for tribe or Pack.

"Sam, call Dr. Whitehawk- bring him here; he needed to be here yesterday." Josh's voice was rough and commanding. Had Sam not still been angry at his father he would have smiled at the resemblance. "Paul Lahote- prepare yourself. I must take you and your Alpha to the council to face their judgement on this situation. Jared, Embry, you two will remain here. Let no one in- do **not** let her **out**."

* * *

 _A/N: To explain a little about this chapter- because I don't want to confuse anyone- the two sections of the chapter are happening at the same time. Bella's section is in that place she can't seem to define, and obviously the other takes place in the physical world at Paul's house. Where the two sort of become one is when the pain and screaming begin._

 _I realize that none of this makes much sense yet, and I am sorry for those who wish me to burn it a little faster than I am but I can't really do that very easily. If I burn the story too fast then plot pieces are going to go missing and it may not line up how I need it to. I do love my readers but I can't sacrifice my story for that particular request._

 _Thank you to everyone!_


	17. Daring to Defy

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

Sam and Paul demanded to at least wait until Dr. Whitehawk had come and seen Bella- Joshua gave them that much; standing over the wolves and watching them. He didn't relish this duty that he had worked for, trying to atone for the sins of the past that he couldn't take back. There had been many times in his life that Joshua Uley would gladly take back if he could turn back time- but he couldn't.

The best he could do now was support his son Sam when the younger Uley allowed for it- which was a rare occurrence unfortunately. Joshua understood it but still hated his son's hesitation to try for a relationship- even one as friends versus a father and son.

"What is going on, Doctor?" Joshua asked calmly as the native man put his tools away quietly, he had not said anything the entire time he had been at the cabin beyond a greeting to Sam. The doctor's forehead was creased a little, his face solemn and serious. "Whitehawk?"

The silence hung thick in the room, the only thing breaking it was the occasional groan of pain from the otherwise silent girl on the bed. She had thankfully stopped convulsing and there had been no more screams- but she also had not awoken again either.

"It is as I feared that night." Dr. Whitehawk replied in a soft and serious voice. "She is now the battleground of two natural enemies- the wolves and the cold ones. There is nothing any of us can do for her now, except to offer prayers up to the Spirits. Her body, and likely her very soul, are now locked in a battle that even I cannot fathom the depth of. She is in pain, and will be until one side wins and the other… loses."

Paul looked hard at the doctor- there was something that Whitehawk wasn't saying, something that he already knew in his heart. If the venom won, she would either be killed or become a vampire. And then he would have no choice, _they_ would have no choice… She would be an enemy of the Tribe, his people, and she would have to be killed- torn apart and burned.

Could he do that?

"She needs to be kept safe, it would probably be best if she did not return to her father in this state. I don't even know when she will wake." Dr. Whitehawk said as he walked towards the bedroom door, they hadn't moved at all. His eyes narrowed a little. "You said she screamed, and thrashed for a while. But, did she do anything else?" Dr. Whitehawk looked directly at Paul knowing that the only one in the room who would be the most honest was the girl's imprint. "Did she say anything? Anything at all?"

Sam and the other wolves uncomfortably shuffled, they weren't sure whether or not to tell the doctor what had happened and Joshua had given them a Council order and told them they could not tell what she had said.

Paul, however, didn't care. There was nothing else they could take from him with their orders, he had already managed to truly fuck this entire situation up rather royally.

"She asked us to protect her. Well, more she screamed the words 'protect me' at us before she blacked out. She was looking me right in the eye as she choked the words out, she could barely breathe." Paul's voice was daring in its tone; he was waiting for either of the Uleys to demand his silence. Joshua opened his mouth to say something only to be silence by a growl from his son. "Other than that she's said nothing, and her noises died down until she became fully silent again. She stopped thrashing as well. The only reason I can even tell she's _alive_ is because I can hear her short breaths and heartbeat."

Dr. Whitehawk nodded before he had a thought. He would have to word this carefully, give away too much and Joshua would notice- and could forbid the wolves from being able to do anything at all. That was the only power the council had over the Protectors- they knew the stories and legends, and should the wolves go astray there were words to tie them to their land and their council completely.

"I shall look into it and see if the caretakers of the past left clues to this." He sighed a little, sad. "It will probably be fruitless, though, for I don't think another has managed to survive the venom." The doctor then looked pointedly at Paul, speaking only to him. "However, if someone is truly _seeking_ answers they can be found, can't they?"

Paul and Sam both knew immediately what Dr. Whitehawk was suggesting. The Keeper, her magic and ties to the land would help them- the two wolves looked at each other carefully. Joshua would soon demand that they follow him to the council chambers- and that was something that _no_ wolf in the room was ready to do.

"Thank you, Doctor." Joshua said with a nod before Whitehawk left. He turned to his son and the Pack, they were standing tense and ready. Something that was said had set them off- but he couldn't figure out what it had been. He looked to his son and Paul- he needed them to come with him, the council would be waiting. "Are you two ready?"

"Give us just a moment, Joshua," Sam said calmly as he looked to Paul. "Do you have a phone? I will need to be calling Chief Swan- I think I can smooth talk us into at least a day with Bella, then we can figure out what to do from there. Is that acceptable to the council?"

Joshua Uley wasn't an idiot- these boys were up to something but he couldn't call them out on it just yet. Once said words could not get taken back, and neither could the ancient ties once uttered. He looked to his son and gave a weak smile.

"She is an adult but we don't need Charlie Swan ripping apart the reservation- so yes it is alright." Joshua walked towards the door with a shrug. He had never agreed with most of the council and their old fashioned ways, refusing to bend with the winds of time and change. Billy Black was the only one besides himself who seemed even a little progressive about things- especially where the Pack was concerned. Old Quil and Harry Clearwater had already stated they thought the girl was a threat to the Pack, Quil wanted to banish the girl- an innocent- from the reservation. It didn't sit well with Joshua in his gut. He smiled inwardly making a decision at last. Just this once he would fail his Council, but he would _not_ fail his son again. "I have a cell phone in my car, let me get it. I have the Chief's cell number- it will make things much easier on you."

With that Joshua Uley walked out of the room and down the stairs. His absence wouldn't give them more than two minutes to plan, but it would be something. And hopefully they could figure out what to do before Harry Clearwater or old Quil came here to find them; those two were impatient and when together had the ability to make some very questionable choices.

Sam turned to Paul the moment he knew his father was out of earshot. His heart was racing more than normal, his determination written on his face.

"Can you make it?" He asked Paul calmly, he knew Paul would understand. Embry and Jared, however, were very confused. "You would have to be on two feet, and you would have to move fast. Can you make it?"

"I wouldn't need to be on two feet. Embry is small enough, send him with me. I don't like the idea but I know I can carry both of them." Paul's reply was nonchalant as he walked to the window and unlocked it. He began to slide it up, thankful that he did not have a screen on it at the moment.

"Why Embry? Jared is older and more stable…" Sam gave an apologetic look to the young wolf, who shrugged and gave a smile.

"His ties to Bella seem more solid than Jared's currently. Plus, if he was seeking something as well it would help us find her faster. You know as well as I do that the Keeper is protected and only those worthy or _seeking_ can find her." Paul gave a wide smile. "Whatever we decide make it quick, your father is on his phone."

Sam growled a little and bit his lip- making quick decisions in his mind. This would cost the Pack and it would cost him as well, but he did not care. Bella, a girl who felt like a daughter to him, was in need. His Pack was in need. He would not abandon them.

"Where is he standing?"

"Close to his car, it looks like he's fighting. Why?"

"I can't remember, does your bathroom have a normal sized window in it?" Sam was calculating things quickly. Sam knew the bathroom faced the rear of the house, and the woods. There was a small amount of roof under that window- so there was some place to stand.

"It does. No screen too." Paul replied with a wide smile. He looked at Embry and Jared, both of the wolves looking at him with a little bit of wariness- his eyes were a little crazy. "You two, go climb out that window, stay on the roof. Do _not_ climb down."

Jared and Embry nodded and walked off quickly, they didn't know what Sam and Paul were thinking but it obviously didn't mesh well with whatever the Council was thinking of doing too. Jared knew in his heart this was dangerous but it was needed. Sam had been saying recently that he was worried the Council, dominated by old fashioned conservative elders, were trying to display too much power over the Pack.

"He's coming this way, Sam." Paul said as he moved to the bed and very carefully picked the woman who haunted his dreams up. Paul's guilt began to eat at him for a bare moment. Bella was his _world_ and he had been disrespecting her so badly. Jared had been right… how many other women had been in this bed? How many other women had he fucked into this bed?

And yet he had marked her merely because another man had _touched_ her. Admittedly it was more his wolf than the man- and the wolf had been snarling and ready to kill during his time with the other women, but still… He had hated his father for being hypocritical and full of double standards. Looks like this apple hadn't fallen far from that tree.

"Take her and run, get into the woods far enough to phase. Have Embry ride with her if you think he would be better than Jared. Do **not** turn around, do not stop running. I will be along soon, I have to at least call Charlie." Sam then left the room, moving to meet his father downstairs. He turned around once just long enough to see Paul carefully climb out of the window after handing Bella to one of the boys who had climbed up and over the top roof.

This wasn't going to be easy.

* * *

From the edge of the woods, sitting on an off-roading bike, sat a russet skinned teenager who was fuming in his anger. He was watching the scene with increasing intensity, that anger building in a way that made him feel like he was literally going to explode but he didn't care. Something was very wrong here, and he was done with his father's half answers.

He had followed Bella after a feeling in his gut told him to do so, he hadn't liked the idea of her being at Sam Uley's house without someone with her. Sam and his gang were… dangerous. He didn't know how, but his instincts told him that they were.

When he saw Bella's truck racing down the road away from the house Jacob had pulled into the woods, surprised when the truck passed him to see that it was _Paul Lahote_ driving the old red Beast. Where had Bella been?

Jake had then taken trails through the woods, glad that there were enough open trail ways on the reservation to get him to his destination without having to drive on a main road. He wanted to follow Paul but not be seen by him. It had been a shock to him when he arrived at Paul's in time to see Paul running into his house with something in his arms, something that looked suspiciously like a small and pale body.

Paul had hurt Bella.

Jake had waited, biding his time. Then Joshua Uley appeared, and Jake actually liked Joshua. He had done quite a bit to attempt to make up for what Billy had called a 'sordid past,' whatever that really meant. Jake hadn't asked, wasn't his business. Not long after the elder Uley had entered the cabin, however, had come a blood curdling scream. Jake's heart had dropped- but he held firm to wait.

After what felt like forever Joshua walked out of the cabin, he had stood near his car on his phone for a few minutes. Jake couldn't catch the entire conversation but it sounded like he was fighting with someone from the Council- about what Jake was very curious but his attention was still on the fact that Bella, _his_ Bella, was still in there alone with Paul.

He had almost ridden out and to the house when two forms climbed over the roof, it was Jared and Embry. They climbed around to the front window and were handed the same suspicious pale body that Paul had carried inside. It took Jake three seconds to realize that it _was_ in fact Bella. A growl had ripped itself out of his chest before he could stop it, scaring him just a little.

Jacob Black shook it off, trying to keep his focus on the girl of his heart. She was unconscious, that was obvious even from this distance. Paul climbed out after handing Bella out, the three boys then jumped off the roof, Paul holding Bella very close after Embry handed her back, and ran to the woods. Jake waited for a minute before following- they couldn't get far on foot, especially carrying Bella like that.

Jake's gut couldn't take it anymore and he gunned the engine to the bike, decided to still stick with the woods. Jake knew these woods better than anyone he could think of since he had spent so much time out in them and on these trails. They wouldn't get away from him.

Not with his Bella.


	18. Seeking Protection

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

Paul phased into wolf form just barely far enough into the forest to not be seen. There had been another smell on the wind, someone he couldn't place. He knew the smell; he _knew_ that he knew the smell- but in his haze filled mind he couldn't place the person.

Why was that smell so familiar? Who did he know that smelled like oil and trees all at the same time?

Shaking it off quickly he looked at Embry, who was holding Bella, and knelt down until he couldn't get any closer to the ground. Thankfully Embry knew what he had wanted and carefully set Bella up on his back and then stepped up on his own.

"I know this is needed but I feel like the bitch on the back of a bike…" Embry muttered softly, Paul growled a little and bristled. Jared, however, laughed outright as he slipped his shorts off and fell forward, four paws on the ground when he hit.

 **Jared:** _Let's go. Sam said so go fast, just remember to keep what we're seeking in your head._

 **Paul:** _And just what is it that we're seeking? Sam didn't exactly lay that one out to me._

 **Jared:** _Safety, answers, medicine. Anything that pertains should allow us to find her. Just run north and when we reach the borders of the Res turn around. Circle pattern, man. Just keep something only the Keeper can provide in your thoughts._

 **Paul:** _Answers, then. Protection could be provided elsewhere. Let's go._

Paul leapt forward and began to run, Jared close behind. The two wolves were ready and willing to run until they couldn't anymore- Bella needed them to do so. She needed the Keeper, she needed protection, she needed answers.

The wolves just hoped that they could find them in the Keeper. If not, it was likely the Council would forbid Paul and Bella's imprint- and possibly banish Bella from the reservation completely. And that was _not_ an outcome **any** of the wolves could live with.

* * *

Sam and his father were going round and round now- Sam was buying time. Joshua had to have known but for some reason was playing along, allowing for it to happen, and this caused Sam to be suspicious of his father. Joshua Uley, according to Sam, was never in it for anyone but himself. And at the current moment Sam wanted to know just was Joshua was after.

"Sam, you and I both know that the Council is waiting for the Alpha and his wayward wolf, Paul. Now Bella was given a clear by the doctor and you have just ensured a minimum of a day here thanks to lying to her father." Joshua said casually as he leaned on the backdoor. "We need to go, before Old Quil or Harry Clearwater end up here. And Spirits forbid the widow Akil send someone to find us- because we probably won't like who she decides to send."

"You should know better than to ask a wolf to leave his imprint at a moment like this, Joshua. The Council supposedly has _all_ of the lore and answers- so wouldn't they know that Paul literally **can't** leave Bella right now?" Sam's voice was almost sarcastic, his eyes intense and bright as he continued to play a verbal game of cat and mouse with his father. "I will not force my best fighter away from his imprint right now. As an Alpha my priority is my Pack- and that includes _all_ of its members. Imprints too."

Joshua finally heaved a heavy sigh and rubbed the back of his neck, closing his eyes in annoyance. He needed to get to the Council- wolves or not. The Council would decide what to do then, and that would be the end of it.

"If that is your final answer, Sam Uley, then I must take those words to the Council. I cannot protect you from their reaction, even though I am part of it." Josh pushed himself off the door and began to walk towards the open front one, passing his son on the way. He stopped when he stood next to Sam, looking at him sidelong. "I will only say this, Sam, I do very much hope that this pale woman is worth it."

"She is, Joshua. She is." Sam's resolve calmed his father just a little. Sam must know what he is doing to be doing it- the kid had grown well and had a very good- if hard- head on his shoulders. The father merely turned and clapped his son on the back before walking out of the cabin, shutting the door behind him. Sam waited for the engine to start before he walked to the backdoor and out it. He wasn't even within the tree line before he was a wolf, shorts in his mouth due to haste.

 **Sam:** _The Council will know of our disobedience within the next half hour- an hour at best if Joshua decides to dawdle. Have you managed to find what we are seeking yet?_

 **Jared:** _Not yet, Sam. We have been running in a particular pattern but have not found our destination yet._

Jared showed Sam where they were so that the Alpha wolf could easily find and follow them- he would only need a few minutes as they were running south just to the west of him currently. Sam took off in that direction, wanting the Pack together for this. If the Council felt the need to retaliate then it could get very ugly- ridiculously fast.

 **Sam:** _I am on my way to you, keep running. Hopefully we will be found worthy in our pursuit._

 **Jared:** _How does this work, Sam? What will the Keeper be able to do that we cannot on our own? We can protect her, can't we?_

 **Sam:** _We could… but the Council- they could deny the imprint. They could force the imprint to fail- there are ways to do so according to the lore… The Keeper warned me when I met with her, during my first phase. The Council- more specifically our ancestors_ _ **on**_ _the Council have ways and words to bind us to the land, the tribe, and their will._

 **Jared:** _Do you really think that is something that would happen?_

 **Paul:** _They can try, but I will_ _ **never**_ _deny my imprint to Bella._

Sam and Jared mentally rolled their eyes at Paul's statement- to them he had already denied the imprint. **Many** times over. Neither would fight him about it currently, because they needed to get to their destination sooner rather than later, but both had their own opinions on Paul and his sexual deviancy with other women that weren't his imprint.

 **Sam:** _They might. Old Quil has been making moves recently that have me worried, and the widow Akil has always been more conservative than the others- she felt that I should have been tied to the tribe and land the moment I phased, but Billy settled on the stipend and my agreement that I would not leave the tribe during my phasing years._

 **Jared:** _She said the same when I phased, didn't she? I can't really remember but I know you fought with her when I was trying to phase back to human…_

 **Sam:** _She is… interesting. Add in the fact that Harry Clearwater isn't always on Billy's side and we have another issue. Old Quil, Harry, and Akil could completely outvote Joshua and Billy if they got the itch to overrule the chief. And I'm worried that time is coming._

The wolves met in a meadow that shouldn't have existed where they had been running to. There was a small spring that created a creek, both were teeming with fish and aquatic life. Beyond the spring sat a small and run down cabin, smoke coming from the roof. There were no screens or glass on the windows, only furs and skins that were pulled away from the openings.

On the side of the cabin sat an older native woman in front of a great and roaring fire- on which sat a large black pot. The smell that wafted on the wind made all four wolves salivate.

They had been found worthy, and the Keeper had called them. They were safe, for now.

* * *

Jacob Black was going insane, he had to be. Where there _should_ have been human tracks, bare prints from the fact the guys weren't wearing shoes, the ground was devoid of them aside from one. And that set disappeared completely once it met up with two sets of rather **large** paw prints in the dirt.

He shook his head again as he kept driving, following the tracks to the best of his ability. Jacob found himself thanking the Spirits that he had been smart enough to fill the tank on the bike or he would get stuck out here- and that would be one hell of a walk back to town.

"I'm coming, Bella. One way or another- I am **not** going to leave you to them." Jacob muttered to himself as he kept driving, his heart racing and pounding in his chest. He loved Bella, had for a long time. Jacob had never had the guts to tell her, or to do anything about it, but now his mind was resolved- he was **not** going to lose Bella to someone like Sam, Jared, Embry, or even worse _Paul._

"Spirits, help me." Jacob sent a quick prayer to the sky as he followed the trail deeper into the woods away from town, it felt like he was driving north. "Help me before it's too late."

* * *

 _A/N: I know that this chapter is shorter- but it's a setup versus a fluff. I couldn't get this part and the next to fit into a single chapter that wasn't overly long, so I decided to take the setup piece of it and create a chapter out of just that._

 _Thank you to all of my readers and viewers- you all have been a boon to me!_

 _Just a warning, there was a death in my family earlier today (1/11) and I will have a funeral to help plan and attend over the next few days, so if my updates slow down it is because of that. I promise I have not abandoned you._


	19. Broken Connections

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

The Keeper said nothing as she moved around the pot next to the fire, she was cooking something that smelled more than amazing to the wolf pack. Not a single wolf moved, however, as they watched the Keeper throw more ingredients into the stoneware over the fire. From the sound they made as they hit it became obvious that the pot contained a soup or stew.

" _I know how to cook, young wolves. If one of you will take the girl into the cabin, I will finish this and then everyone can eat and relax."_ The Keeper's ethereal echoing voice was calming in nature, the wolves relaxed one by one. All except Paul. _"Young one, take your mate into the cabin. She will come to no harm here."_

Paul hesitated, throwing a look to his Alpha for guidance. Sam nodded gently in silence- Sam had the most experience with the Keeper, though _all_ wolves met her when they changed, so he knew that when the Keeper said no harm would come to Bella she meant it completely. Paul moved with the inherent grace they all had as he walked towards the cabin.

The Keeper continued to cook as the rest of the wolf pack stood stone still and waiting. Sam was the tensest, worried about what was going to happen- would the Keeper be able to fully protect them? Or would this idea have been all for nothing?

" _Speak, Alpha. I can feel your need to speak."_ The Keeper finally turned to the wolves with a gracious smile and milky white eyes. _"I am old and blind, but that does not mean that I cannot see."_

"I am worried for my Pack, Keeper. As their Alpha I should be able to protect them completely- from even the Council. Yet I have failed- my pack, my imprint, my tribe." Sam's shoulders fell as he dropped his face towards the ground. Jared and Embry stared with dropped jaws, they had never seen Sam to be so submissive in position.

" _You brought them here, Alpha. You listened to my words from so long ago, and you remembered them. I can ask no more of an Alpha, neither can your tribe or your Pack. You_ _ **have**_ _protected them."_ The Keeper walked forward with sure steps. She used no cane and walked with a small limp but nothing that would hint at a loss of sight. _"The Council will come here; do not think they will let this go- they will Seek as well. Yet we have time to prepare, you are not alone Alpha."_

Sam looked up as ancient hands pressed onto his hunched shoulders. The Keeper was staring at him, into him, and her eyes said more than her words ever could. She was right, for now they were safe. For now, Bella was safe too.

" _The stew pot will be finished in a few minutes. There are fresh picked winter berries and breads as well- go and eat, wolves. The food will fill and warm you. Once you are full there is a covered area if you wish to relax, to sleep. I know you must be tired, dear Protectors."_ The Keeper reached up and gently touched Sam's face, like a grandmother would a child. _"The Spirits have asked so much of you- it is only fair that you get to rest, if only for a little while."_

Sam leaned into the gentle caress for a moment, his eyes closing in contentment. With the relaxing of their Alpha both Jared and Embry began to relax as well- the Pack feeding off the emotions of the members. The Keeper motioned over her shoulder with her other hand when Sam opened his eyes and looked at her, letting the wolves know they were free to go eat. Sam eagerly moved to the pot and the stewing food in it, Jared and Embry hot on his heels, suddenly feeling rather famished.

* * *

The Keeper walked her way into the cabin, shutting the door. The walls were made of thin wood with windows that were open to the world. Yet it seemed somehow muted in the structure, as if it was a large stone cathedral- the hushed atmosphere was calming in its own way.

Paul was sitting on his knees with his head resting ever so gently on Bella's chest, the sound of her heartbeat grounding him to Earth. His right hand was lightly, carefully, stroking her hair while the left was holding her limp hand. She was as pale as moonlight and as still as stone, the only real movement was the tiny rise and fall of her chest.

" _She is a strong one, Wolf."_ The Keeper said as she walked to the fire and picked up a blanket, returning to the cot she lay it on the girl. _"Her spirit is that of a fighter, a warrior. She is selfless in her fight, though, and she fights alone."_

"What do you mean she fights alone? I'm here; Sam, Jared, Embry are here. She is far from alone." Paul's voice cracked as if crying, and if he was the elder woman did not mention it.

" _If you think you could handle it, I could show you. But you would not be able to help, and I cannot hold you in that place for long."_ The Keeper's cryptic words bristled against Paul, his hair stood on end for a moment. He did not know what she meant and he didn't really wish to find out. _"I cannot say whether or not seeing her torment would help you though, wolf. You are stronger in not knowing."_

"I want to help her, and if I am stronger here than it is here I will stay." Paul turned his head to look away from the Keeper and towards his imprint's face. He was studying it, memorizing it. He wanted to see these features when he closed his eyes. "I just want her back, here. I need her."

" _You say you need her, wolf, yet you have denied her. Many times you have denied her, disrespected the Spirit's choice of your mate, and desecrated the bond that is your imprint."_ The Keeper ran a hand over the back of Paul's head. The young wolf, usually against being touched in such ways, allowed it as he took in her chastisement. He did deserve it, after all. _"She is fighting alone because she must. Her wolf, her chosen, her Pack- she is disconnected from them because of you. You were to bring her into the Pack, protect her with your life as you would your tribe- you were to love and cherish her very soul."_

"What have I actually done, Keeper? You are speaking in riddles, and I cannot understand them." Paul growled deep in his chest as he spoke. He found himself not thinking of phasing yet still wishing to commit violence. The Keeper knew all, or so it was told, and yet she sat there and talked like any clueless adult does when they wanted to sound smart!

" _Perhaps I was wrong, young wolf."_ The Keeper whispered in her ethereal echo as she reached out again for the back of Paul's head, her hand traveling down to the base of his skull. As she continued talking she pressed her fingers into the soft spot next to where his spine met his head. _"Perhaps you do need to see this."_

* * *

 _Paul found himself standing in darkness, the Keeper's hand clutching his arm. He looked around and felt suffocated by the void without end, his panic began to rise before the Keeper tugged downward on his forearm._

" _ **Do not panic, wolf, you are blind to this place as of yet. Allow your Spirit to adjust, this is not a place you were meant to tread."**_ _The Keeper took a deep breath and released it, as if she were meditating in this desolate darkness._ _ **"Close your eyes, breathe. Feel this place with your spirit, see it with your soul not your eyes."**_

 _Paul did as he was told almost instantly- he wanted out of this… wherever… quickly. He couldn't imagine staying here any longer than was needed, it felt almost like his very life was being taken from him the longer he stayed._

 _Once his eyes closed and he began breathing, Paul also found himself feeling outward in his mind. He was searching for whatever it was the Keeper had brought him here to see, his instincts pushing outward as he concentrated. After a few breaths he felt it; a soft light, like a heartbeat, a presence in the darkness. He opened his eyes automatically and immediately regret the decision for the sight that met his eyes._

 _Standing in front of him was Bella,_ _ **his**_ _Bella, and she was dying. Her body was broken, she was beaten and barely breathing. In front of her stood a swirling mist of greyish… something. Every once in a while it would take shape- that of the leech Edward or another with red eyes that he didn't recognize. They laughed at her as she tried to stand, her body seeming to protest every movement she made._

 _Paul moved to go to her and was stopped by the firm grip on his arm, he looked down in surprise when he realized that he_ _ **couldn't**_ _break it. The Keeper was holding him in place, her eyes hard and her face stern. She shook her head at him when he tried once again to wrench his arm free of her grasp._

" _ **You cannot go to her. Once I let go your Spirit will leave this place- it is not meant for you. But look, and look well. See what you have done with your actions, the disconnect you have caused with your selfish thoughts."**_ _The keeper nodded to the scene before them again. Paul found himself turning against his mind's wishes. He did not want to see._

 _Bella had managed to find her feet again and the grey mist was pacing in a half circle, the laughter from before all but gone as it seemed to snarl and hiss at her in an animalistic way. Bella didn't even flinch._

" _You told me to choose, Great One." Bella said aloud, Paul's heart broke at the pain in her voice. "You told me to choose yet you have abandoned me, why?"_

" _I did not abandon you, Daughter."_ _Paul's eyes found their way to the creatures_ _ **behind**_ _Bella now, and he stiffened. It was five great wolves- his Pack and another ancient looking wolf. They stood and paced, coiled and ready for the fight in front of them. Yet they did not attack, even as the swirling mist grabbed Bella by her throat- they did not move._ _"You placed your trust in your pack- yet there is something blocking them from protecting you. Something has been done to mute your connection to your pack. You will have to trust them to figure this out- do not give in to the pain and the allure. The Venom cannot save you, that path leads only to destruction."_ _The great wolf sat as the other wolves continued to pace, Paul managed to easily pick his own out. It was snarling and foaming at the mouth, ready for the kill. His wolf, it seemed, was ready to kill for Bella- even in this place, wherever it was._

" _I can't, Great One." Bella gasped out as the Venom, as the old wolf had called it, closed its swirling mass tighter around her throat. "My strength is failing."_

" _Your wolf will come, Daughter. When your connection to the Pack is restored you will have their strength to call upon, and only then will you be able to contain and defeat this threat. Hold yourself strong, my child. You must hold yourself strong."_ _The Great Wolf held his nose to the air and howled a heart wrenching howl into the darkness. He continued to howl until Paul placed his hands over his ears, not noticing that the grip on his arm had loosened._

 _Darkness swallowed him again as he felt himself falling._

* * *

Paul awoke on the ground, his body having slumped off the cot on which he had been leaning. He looked around wildly for the Keeper, who was sitting at her fire and weaving again. His head hurt, from hitting the ground or the magic she had poured through it he wasn't sure.

"What was that place, Keeper?" Paul asked as he rubbed a hand against the back of his head where the pain was the worst. "What was what _thing?_ "

" **That place was an in between. All Spirits have them, places in between life and death. It is where darkest secrets and greatest strengths are kept, a place where sickness resides yet can also be cured. It is a sacred place, a forbidden place. That is why we could not stay long."** The Keeper's hands deftly worked on her weaving, moving in and out with ease as she spoke. **"Bella is trapped there, fighting the Venom within her body. The Pack, your blood, your mark… they all should have provided her Spirit the strength to fight and win, yet due to her disconnect she is dying."**

"How do I fix this, Keeper?" Paul begged, his heart breaking. "I cannot lose her. I know I was selfish, I know now that I was being a child- I know that she deserves better than I, yet she was _given_ to me. I… I want to hold her, to love her… I don't love her yet, I am still angry with her for dating the leech, for hurting over him when he left… But I cannot see her die either."

" **To save her, wolf, you must make the greatest of decisions on your own. You will have to take away her choice and tie her to you, this land, your Pack…"** The Keeper finally turned her face to look at Paul, her stern features actually causing the normally fearless wolf to shrink back. **"You will have to claim her above all others, a bond in blood and life. It is a type of marking that has not been used in centuries, since the time of Taha Aki and the first Two-Spirit Protectors. Know this wolf, and make your decision based on the true knowledge. Should you choose to take Bella in such a way you will be binding her to you and this pack, to your tribe and this land, in a way that cannot be broken without death. She will become part of the pack in a way that has not been seen in a long time. However, she will also become your equal as much as your mate. You will be tying your strength into her as well, and that of your pack."**

"So if I mark her in this way, whatever it is, she will live?" Paul asked as he moved back to kneeling and holding Bella. "What is it, Keeper? I will _not_ lose her."

" **This mark is done in blood and teeth, sealed with saliva and healed in that instant. You will have to use the blood of your pack, as her body already has yours in it. You could use more, if you wished to strengthen the bond between the two of you, but it isn't necessary."** The Keeper stood and moved to grab a book, leather bound and heavy looking, the pages made of other animal skins and brittle looking plant fibers. **"You will have to gain your brother's blood with permission and keep it in your mouth. When you bite her, after your teeth pierce her flesh, you will have to lick that blood against the mark. The blood of your brothers will provide the connection to the pack, your own blood the connection to you, and the mark seals the imprint which binds her to tribe and land. As you lick the blood against the wound it will heal and close, sealing this mark and bond until death."**

"Anything, Keeper, if it means keeping Bella." Paul looked at his imprint and began to stroke her hair again. "I choose her, now until the end of my life, I choose her."

" **There is more, young one. You will have to** _ **repeat**_ **this process with each new wolf, to strengthen her bond to the Pack. She is the imprint of every wolf, the keeper of secrets, the One Who Will Know. She is needed, and the bond will be tested in the days and months to come. This first mark will have to be done without her consent, but from then onward you will have to get her to agree to the pain that comes with this kind of mark- for you are putting Spirit power into a body not meant to hold it."** The Keeper gave a wry and almost apologetic smile. **"I will give you time to make your choice, wolf."**

"I choose her life, Keeper. Anything for her life." Paul replied quietly as he stood, smoothing the hair he had been playing with. He looked to the Keeper with a dominant glint in his eyes. "Anything for my mate."

As Paul leaned down to give Bella a kiss on the head he was stopped by a yelling outside, followed by snarling and a deep growl. Something was wrong, deeply wrong.

"Paul, stay inside! Protect them!" Sam yelled at the same time as another voice filled the clearing, the voice of Jacob Black.

" _I will fucking kill you, Sam Uley!"_ Was the roaring yell before it turned into a snarling growl and Jacob exploded into a horse sized wolf, murder in his wildly feral eyes.

* * *

 _A/N: I realize that I have diverged almost completely from cannon TwiVerse right now, and I apologize to those of you who may have wanted a little bit more cannon to the story, but I am following this to the end; it has been bugging my brain for a long time._

 _To my readers and reviewers, thank you so much to all of you- and a special thank you to those who have (publicly and privately) given support in my current grief. It means so much, and I truly do thank you for giving me that small comfort._


	20. Wasting Time

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

Paul could not believe his shit luck; they _had_ been followed. By Jacob _fucking_ Black. And the tiny should-be Alpha was beyond _pissed._ Paul didn't even have to see the boy to know that he was in no way human right now- that there was no distinction between the wolf and the man at this point. And from the sounds of it- the wolf was fully in control.

Paul stood close to the door of the cabin, looking from the door to his imprint to the Keeper and back. He was torn between wanting to protect his pack, _his_ Alpha, and between staying put and protecting his imprint. The Keeper backed away a few steps in anticipation- and it was a good thing too for no less time than she had taken her second step the front of her cabin shook and cracked.

 _Jake was attacking the cabin_.

The chorus of snarling and angry howls was causing Paul to begin to shake. He looked at the Keeper with a whine and a sad look in his eyes. He knew that if he phased in here he would end up destroying quite a bit of the meager furniture in the room.

" _Protect your imprint, wolf."_ The Keeper's voice was low, almost beyond Paul's hearing entirely. _"Protect her."_

Paul unbuttoned his shorts and pushed them towards the ground as he leaned forward, stepping out of the shorts once he was on the ground and fully lupine in shape. He growled a little, a warning to the feral creature on the other side of the door. Whatever had been keeping it intact was beginning to fail- so Paul leaned down and coiled to spring.

At the next crash, Paul leapt forward and met the front end of Jacob full force- the sound of their bodies colliding was as booming as thunder, and as sickening as a thousand bones breaking. The two wolves rolled away from the now broken cabin, snarling and snapping the whole way.

 **Jacob:** _Paul Lahote you are a dead man._

Jacob's voice was deep and growling, not like an alpha command but more from lack of control. He stood and prepared to attack Paul again, circling around him in an attempt to find an opening. Paul had to admit, Jacob was a natural at this whole wolf thing- that was obvious in just _looking_ at him. But he wasn't the fighter Paul was, and he hadn't been phasing as long.

 **Paul:** _You can fight me, pup, but you will lose. You are threatening my Pack, my Alpha, and my imprint. Find the man within you before I tear you apart._

 **Jacob:** _You are nothing more than a piece of whore trash. Your mother left, your father abandoned you, you do not belong anywhere- do you?_

Paul knew that it was Jacob's wolf saying those things- trying to find the button he could press to get him to drop his guard enough to win the fight. Paul could see it in Jacob's eyes that there was an inner battle as well as this outer one- and all Paul had to do was distract Jacob's wolf long enough for the man inside to win.

Hopefully the man would want to kill him less.

 **Paul:** _Jacob, come on man. Listen to me. As much as I would literally_ _ **love**_ _to tear you a new one and sink my teeth into your annoyingly pissy ass I can't right now. Bella is dying, and she needs help._ _ **Our**_ _help. You can try to kill me later, unless you want to watch her die here and now._

 **Sam:** _He isn't lying, Jacob. We brought Bella here for protection and help- we are losing her and that can't happen. We need her; Jared, Paul, Embry, and I_ _ **need**_ _her. I suspect you'll understand when you see her._

 **Jacob:** _I want to see her_ _ **now**_ _._ Jacob's voice was a full growl, it emanated from deep within his chest. In front of him, between him and the cabin, Jared and Embry moved quickly to stand between the new wolf and their sister-imprint. Jacob glared at them with a renewed intensity as he stepped forward, hair standing straight up from his ears to his tail. _Get out of my way, let me see her._

 **Paul:** _You will not get any closer to her in that body, Jacob Black. I_ _ **will**_ _tear you apart if you even try, don't think I won't._

 **Jacob:** _You don't even_ _ **like**_ _her! I've heard what you've said around the Res, how she's worthless and more trouble than the Tribe should allow around. How she looks like a corpse and was cold. If I remember correctly, you even told_ _ **Jared**_ _recently that she must be like fucking ice. So what gives you the right to stop me from seeing my best friend?!_

 **Paul:** _I have said and done many things that I am not proud of- things that will_ take _me a lifetime to attempt to atone for… but where does my right come from? My right comes as her imprint, her mate. As the wolf who marked her with bite and scent and blood. My right comes from the fact our very souls are connected._

Jacob took a moment to process the words told to him, Sam stepped forward to protect Paul in case things went further South than they already had due to the well-known crush that Jacob had on Bella. The penny was in the air for all of around five seconds before it dropped to the ground, hard.

 **Jacob:** _What the_ _ **fuck**_ _do you mean she's your_ _mate_ _?! You_ _ **hate**_ _her, you have a new girl every fucking_ _ **day**_ _it seems like- how many women have you fucked recently, motherfucker! And what do you mean marked, what did you_ _ **do**_ _to her? You_ _ **bit**_ _her? Blood? What is going on?!_

 **Sam:** _Jacob, please, try to calm down. Think human, or as human as you can manage. You have to calm and manage the wolf instincts to phase, turn, back. Once you are human again we can sit and talk- there is still quite a bit of the Keeper's seafood stew pot left, it is surprisingly very filling. We can sit down, as a Pack, and talk. We will not keep you from Bella then, alright?_

 **Jacob:** _Fine, we can talk. But I want actual answers, Sam Uley._

 **Sam:** _That I can do, Jacob Black._

Jacob then began to pace and think about everything he could that was human. School, his father, doing dishes, showers, _Bella_. He felt a soft growl in his mind from Paul, who was still phased in, when Jacob began to think of Bella. But she calmed him, brought him back to human, she was his friend and his light. She brought him back his humanity, he just had to ignore the possessive growling coming from Paul.

Paul, however, couldn't take being in Jacob's head any longer once his childlike memories of Bella turned into porn-like fantasies, complete with an imagined body beneath Jacob's own. It was causing Paul to become too angry, his wolf too close to the surface. He shook his body out as if he was shaking off water and stalked back to the cabin, growling at Jared and Embry who didn't want to let him pass. They stared at him wide eyed and shifted over just enough to let him into the cabin.

Shifting back to his human form, Paul grabbed his shorts and slipped them on before walking over to the cot where Bella lay. He rested a hand on her forehead and quickly pulled it back- she was freezing. Due to his higher temperature she would always feel colder than him, but this was different. This was like death, she was ice cold and her skin was paling fast.

"She is dying, Keeper. Is there nothing that can be done to help her without the mark being reinforced?" Paul looked at the ancient native woman who gave him a sad shake of her head in return. "Then I have to mark her again _now_ , I will not lose her!"

" _You need your whole Pack's blood to solidify the bond, Protector. Without the blood of both Alphas- the bloodline and the obligated- the bond and mark will not have its full potential. She will still lack the strength to overcome."_ The Keeper replied as she moved to a shelf on the back wall of the cabin. Off of it she pulled a pair of hide pants, skillfully sewn and tanned. It looked to Paul to be Elk from the coloring- much darker than the typical whitetail deer known through the region. She walked back to him and held the pants out to her. _"Your newest member will need these, it seems he may have destroyed his pants when he accepted his Wolf. And I've found most young men tend to be bashful in the presence of a woman- even one as old as I."_

Paul chuckled and took the pants from her, his smile wide. "That's probably because you see quite a bit for a blind woman, Keeper."

" _There is little hidden from my sight, Protector."_ The Keeper laughed an echoing and ethereal laugh as Paul walked back through his still-phased Pack brothers to where Jacob was. The air around him seemed to be vibrating, his fur getting shorter.

Paul winced in a little bit of empathy for the new wolf- the first phase from wolf to human was painful. He could remember feeling like every bone in his body was breaking and healing only to be broken again. It was not a feeling that he was going to forget any time soon- and not a lesson he wished to repeat. The Council said that it was about solidifying the connection between both Spirits, the man and wolf. Paul thought that was a load of shit.

With the sound of ripping skin and breaking bones, punctuated by a howl that turned into a human yell, Jacob was suddenly kneeling there in the meadow, naked. His fast was scrunched tight- his breathing coming in short gasps. The change was unlike any pain he had ever felt before- it had been the most intense thing he had ever lived through. And even though it was brief he could still feel all of it, his skin felt like it was on fire.

"Hey, Jake. You're going to want these." Paul said as he tossed the pants to the kid. "Unless you _want_ to walk around naked. And I'm pretty sure none of us need to see all of that right now."

Paul turned and walked briskly away- he was on a mission. Bella needed him, needed the Pack, needed strength- and the only way to give it to her was to give answers as fast as possible and then mark her, complete the binding to Pack and wolf. She may hate him for it later, but her life now was worth it. He would have to hammer out the details of their relationship, or lack thereof, and her hopeful forgiveness later.

"Phase back, Sam. Jared, Embry, you too. We need to talk, _all_ of us." Paul said as he grabbed a bowl, it shocked him a bit as he looked at it, the thing was hand carved and had been well taken care of.

The other wolves could phase without the sound effects so his only indicator that they even _had_ phased was the fact that soon enough he was surrounded by four shirtless males, three in denim shorts and one in traditional hide pants. They all gathered eating utensils, only Jacob grabbed a new one. The rest of the Pack grabbed their already used bowls.

Scooping out some of the stew into his bowl Paul was happily surprised to see that it included salmon, geoduck, and freshwater clams. It was gorgeously made and within the first few bites Paul knew that it would manage to fill him just fine. Sam nudged him and handed the overly stressed wolf an obviously homemade fire baked roll. It was perfectly crunchy on the outside and, when broken open, turned out to be soft and luxurious on the inside.

"I want answers," Jacob said through a mouth full of salmon and bread. "I wasn't kidding about those."

"You'll get them, Jacob," Sam started, only to be interrupted by the new wolf.

"Jake. I don't like being called Jacob- makes me feel old."

"Fine, Jake. You will get your answers, but they must be quick. Bella is dying- and only the Keeper knows how to save her." Sam continued, being cut off again by a cough from Paul. "Yes?"

"She told me how to fix this, how to save Bella." Paul shuffled his feet. "It goes against all we know, though. And against Tribal law."

"What is it?" Jared's sharp voice cut through, his eyes serious.

Paul heaved a sigh and looked at everyone, knowing that he would have to explain what was going on- and although the best way would be to phase, he decided to do it out loud first.

"I'm going to have to give the long version, Sam. That will give Jake some of his answers." Paul began a nod from Sam told him he could continue so he looked directly at his newest brother. "When I first imprinted on Bella, that night in September, I didn't know what to do. She was broken, the leech had not only drained her but also covered her in his venom- pretty much ensuring she would either change or die. Her heart was barely beating from blood loss and cold. It was horrifying."

"Wait, it _wasn't_ an accident?" Jake asked quickly, taken aback. "You lied to everyone, you filed false police reports? All of it was an _act_?"

"We had to, Jake." Sam soberly replied before looking back at Paul and motioning him to continue.

"But in the woods I had imprinted, she was my world- the only thing in that moment that held me to this planet. At Sam's the situation got worse than it had been. We realized that she needed blood and so it was confirmed that she had O- blood; which became a problem for Sue Clearwater rather quickly. The reservation clinic doesn't _keep_ O- blood on hand, there are so few of us on the reservation with it. The big issue is that O- blood can't receive from anyone other than another O- donor." Paul thought back to that night, the state Bella was in, and it reminded him that she was laying not even 50 feet from him in an even worse one. And it was all his fault. "Even though I was fighting with myself about the imprint and my feelings for her- I offered my blood since I am O- as well. We went to the clinic and began the transfusion- Bella was unconscious for all of it. I left only after she was at least at the edge of the woods, when my blood was no longer needed and the Council called us for a late night secret meeting- I had to be forced to leave. I was still fighting my feelings within the imprint, but my wolf did not want to leave our mate."

"You keep saying imprint and imprinting. She's not a baby goose or duck." Jake growled lightly. "She's a human with a mind and soul and choices."

"I know that, Jacob Black." Paul narrowed his eyes. "And Sam can explain imprinting to you once I am done, we need to hurry to save Bella. You wanted answers so at least let me give you what I can before you decided to hold us up."

"Fine." Jake glared at the use of his whole name. When he didn't continue to talk, Paul forged on with his story.

"At the meeting it was decided, by way of vote, that since we didn't know how much Bella really _knew_ about things- us, the Cullens, everything… it was decided that I was to remain away from her unless she came to us, to me. Old Quil, Harry Clearwater, and the widow Akil outvoted Billy and Joshua- Old Quil leading the charge in the idea that since Bella was not only a pale face but also had been with and been attacked by a cold one she was a liability. Sam didn't have to Alpha order me away from her- only the wolf in me wanted to be near her in the first place. He had already chosen, and Bella was, is, it." Paul winced a little, he was getting to the worse part of all of this. His crimes against the imprint, his selfish choices that had led to Bella being so disconnected from the Pack. "I decided, then and there, that since I wasn't even allowed to be _anything_ to my imprint that I wasn't going to sit around and wait for her to come to me. I had needs, wants, and a raging libido- it didn't hurt that I look 24, so I was able to sneak into clubs and drink when I wasn't on patrol."

Sam knew about this but it still irked him. He didn't want people to think, any more than many already did, that the group of secret Protectors were just a bunch of steroid-filled, overly angry, troublemakers. Paul's behavior hadn't helped that cause in the slightest and now they had disobeyed the Council and ran off with Bella- who Paul had marked without consent. Paul took a deep breath and hesitated, which drew everyone's attention to his next words.

"I started bringing women home, going to their houses. My wolf would be in immense pain as I fucked them, sometimes it would be bad enough that I could barely breathe- but I would take that pain over being imprinted and being alone. It didn't help that I still hated how she could so easily be hurt over a group of leeches- over a man who had torn her body apart and tried to kill her and then left her there in the forest to wait for death. My anger at her simmered, reaching heights as my wolf would try to get me to run to her house when I was on patrol- I had to actively not allow him control or it ended badly." Paul didn't tell them yet that it was these actions that had damned Bella- he wanted to wait as long as possible for the beating that would ensue. "Then she showed up with baskets of baked goods as a thank you for us finding her after her 'incident,' and I couldn't have been more stunned. She was so pale, so fragile, and, when we first walked up, so silent. I read the notes she handed Emily- and remembered that Billy had told us she hadn't spoken out loud since the day she had seen Embry after she almost died, his wolf had run him to her."

"I thought it was weird that she spoke to you that day, I think that's what made me so angry. That and… Embry." Jake said with his head down.

"After she left, and I calmed down from wanting to rip you to shreds, I spent a lot of time alone with my wolf. I phased and ran until I felt I couldn't run any further- I think I was quite a few miles into Canada before I turned around. I think it was the run that helped me to decide something: it didn't matter that I hated what Bella had _done,_ I didn't hate Bella. I wanted to get to know her, learn her, be friends with her." Paul growled a little as he took another breath. "But the Council was still not budging- especially Old Quil and the widow Akil. Bella, to them, was a liability. She could possible know too much and if the leeches came back to take her, or if she went with them, she could expose us and leave us vulnerable. I held off as long as I could and then finally had to ask Jared for help, I wanted to give her the baskets back before the holidays. Sue had said that Bella had talked about making a bunch of cookies and shit for people and it had been mentioned giving the Pack some, so we bought Embry his own basket and I took them to her. Jared and I fought that night over me being a stubborn and selfish jackass. Sam had to order us to stop."

"Order?" Jake was honestly curious, not really meaning to interrupt.

"I'll explain later, Jake." Sam promised. "Continue, Paul."

"Well she obviously came to deliver them today. When she arrived at Sam's house he and Emily were out, and Jared and Embry were nowhere near enough to hear that monster of a truck of hers. I heard it and before I knew what I really was doing I was following her; the only place I didn't was to your house- Sam had ordered the wolves to keep as much distance as possible from you until you phased." Paul ignored Jake's confused looks. "When I saw her there I only intended on taking the baskets, shooing her away, and then putting them in Sam's house and leaving. Except my wolf had other ideas. He was practically vibrating with happiness that not only had she understood what the baskets had _meant_ but had also baked them to overflowing- not just full. Then, when I snuck up behind her and gave her a bit of a scare I couldn't help but keep going. My wolf wanted his mate."

"You scared her and decided to keep going? Are you _always_ an ass?" Jared joked with a smile as he tore apart another crusty roll of bread. Paul answered him with a growl and a glare.

"The smell of her fear was being covered by something else, something much more intimate. I was turning her _on_ , even with my attempts to make her fear me out of my, the man in me, anger towards the Council for denying my right to see my imprint and her choices to date and be around leeches." Paul took a breath and charged on to the finish. He needed to help Bella _now_ and couldn't talk forever. "When she held out my basket and asked me to take it I was just going to grab it and leave- but a scent was carried to me on the wind. Along with hers there was a rather _strong_ scent, male and hormonal. My wolf almost took full control then and there when I smelled Jacob on Bella. I tried to fight him and the instinct to mate with and mark Bella, but I obviously failed on the marking. In my fear I took her to my house and then this whole shit show began."

"Did the Keeper tell you how to save Bella?" Embry asked "You said she had told you how to save her but it went against tribal law. What is it?"

"I have to mark her, permanently." Paul said, receiving a small growl and death glare from Jake- which he ignored anyway. "But I need to use my teeth, saliva, and _our_ blood to do it."

" _What?!_ " Jake yelled as he stood instantly and turned to run for the cabin, causing the other four members of his Pack to rise and follow him with growls. Paul's were the loudest, they didn't have _time_ for this shit!

* * *

 _A/N:_ _I really wanted to get everything into one chapter but it looks like that's so **not** going to happen! This chapter is already well over my limit of around 3k in words (I do that so as to not bore my readers, or to overload them.) The next two chapters will be the 'finishers' for this section of the story and the climax of this part of the plot. _

_Just a warning to my readers this story is looking to be, using my outlines and planning, around 50-60 chapters long. I don't want to split it into 2 different stories so this one will just be longer than normal. I hope you are willing to stick it out with me to the end._

 _Thank you, as usual, to all of my readers and those who review (public and private). It has been amazing to have your support this whole time!_


	21. Bound Through Blood and Strength

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

 _Bella had nearly been broken from the initial assault from the Venom. It had twisted around her, grasping her tightly and angrily. The Venom laughed whenever Bella yelled out in her pain._

" _See, dear Isabella?" The Venom had taken on James' body once again, his pale arm holding her tight to his body, his other hand gripping her chin so tightly she wondered why it didn't break. He was forcing her to look at the wolves, who were standing there watching her torture. They were pacing and snarling, even jumping forward a few times- yet something kept stopping them. The Venom-James chuckled and licked down Bella's neck with a soft groan. "You will make a beautiful vampire, my dear. Just give in to me- let me save you."_

" _ **Do not listen to the Venom, Bella."**_ _The Great Wolf's voice was a harsh contrast to the voice of the Venom-James. He was commanding and deep, his tone was harsh yet soft._ _ **"There is no end to the pain if you choose Venom."**_

 _Bella grabbed a hold of the Venom-James hand and wrenched at it, the force behind her anger startling the Venom into actually releasing her and changing shape again with a snarl. It was now back to its formless grey blob, slowly circling the girl on the edge of the void. It surged forward to slam into the girl, knocking her down with a cry._

" _If you won't willingly take me," The Venom began with an almost visible sneer in the grey mass. "Then I will break you, and when you are broken and vulnerable I will forcefully overtake you."_

 _Bella grit her teeth and picked herself off the ground, she would not give the Venom the satisfaction of being able to kick her while she was down. She found the strength to stand firm against the next attack of the Venom, it laughed wildly as it slammed into her, knocking her back and almost off of her feet._

" _You'll give in, little human. You'll give in eventually. How long do you think you can hold out against the pain?" The Venom lashed out again, this time taking the shape of Edward. "You're a human, nothing more. But with me you can live_ _ **forever**_ _, you can have immeasurable power, beauty. Do you not remember how you used to see this face? What did you describe it as? The god Adonis? Perfection? You could have all of that, Isabella."_

" _I would have that, yes." Bella said through teeth clenched so hard she felt they were glued in place. "But I would lose_ _ **me**_ _, I would become a ghost of myself._ _ **You**_ _would always be there, waiting and watching. The monster inside me would have teeth and venom, and it would wait. Wouldn't you?"_

" _Oh, Isabella. You've been listening to Edward's 'father' Carlisle too much. Would it matter that you would lose pieces of yourself? Your soul would still be yours, there under the surface. I don't take that away- I just block it." The Venom-Edward smiled and held up a hand, twisting it this way and that as he looked at it in amusement. He curled his fingers a little as his smile grew cold and cruel. "And yes, I would reside inside you- just under the skin. Waiting, wanting, hungry."_

" _I will not give in to that, I don't care what you say. Taking Edward's face wont sway me. Neither will taking James' face make me want to accept you." Bella's voice was strong, though pained. The Venom-Edward reached out with the hand he had been inspecting and scratched at her- Bella screamed as her skin opened, barely bleeding, only to heal moments later._

" _Oh how fun, I can't kill you by tearing you apart and bleeding you out. But like any silly human you feel pain." The Venom-Edward began to change, his face shifting with his voice into that of the Venom's version of James. "This will be so fun. How about we play a game, little Isabella? Let's see how well you remember."_

 _The blackness around the Venom suddenly began to change and distort into a very familiar place. The Venom itself surrounded three sides of her, contorting into mirrors that showed her reflection back at her- the strength and fear written all over her face reflected to her. Bella looked so foreign, so wrong, to her own eyes. The twisting lines that stretched across her skin moved and twitched violently- a testament to the anger of both the wolves and the Venom inside her body._

 _The Venom-James chuckled as Bella stared at herself. She was different than she had been before- the Venom could not smell her fear this time. The scent of her fear was marred by her attempt at strength, but that didn't matter to the Venom. Here, in this place, it had all the time it needed to break the human- to ensure that she would accept the gift it offered, willingly or otherwise._

" _Won't you play with me, Isabella? Don't you remember?" The Venom-James reached out and stroked Bella's face with one hand, his smile twisting coldly cruel. "You ran from me then, you tried to save yourself. Don't you remember?"_

 _Bella didn't even flinch at the burningly cold touch of the Venom-James, not willing to give him the satisfaction of knowing that he was getting to her. He was, very deeply, but she would not allow herself the luxury of fear- she couldn't hold strong and still be afraid._

" _I remember just fine, but I will not run from you." Bella replied as calmly as she could with such a shaking voice. Venom-James' fingers clenched on her jaw painfully, but Bella continued to talk through it. "But if it gives you pleasure to reenact our meeting then do so. You will not break me with pain."_

" _We'll see about that," The Venom-James chuckled darkly as it threw Bella into the mirrors it had created surrounding them. Bella cried out as she went flying, choking the noise off as her body smacked into the mirrors, they didn't even crack. "wont we?"_

 _Bella lay there for a moment, whimpering slightly in the pain. Her body healed from the flight, it felt like a minimum of a couple ribs had broken. The cracking felt like lightening through her skin, but she still held herself strong against the storm. Bella had to be strong, the wolves would help- eventually._

 _What felt like an eternity later Bella's strength was truly beginning to fail- her body finally taking time to heal after breaking. Her breath was coming in short pants, her ability to stand took her much longer to find within herself, the Venom laughing at her feeble attempts as she failed over and over again._

 _She would not give in._

 _Bella finally managed to find her feet once again, the Venom went from laughing to hissing and snarling in a single instant. She couldn't tell if it sounded more like an angry cat or a ready to strike viper. Either way the Venom was proving to her once again that it was nothing more than animalistic instincts in a pretty wrapper._

" _You told me to choose, Great One." Bella said aloud but barely, there was so much pain in her voice that it did not sound like her at all. "You told me to choose yet you have abandoned me, why?"_

" _I did not abandon you, Daughter." The Great Wolf said with a calm voice, his anger long since dissipated. The Venom surged forward and grabbed Bella by her throat, choking her. "You placed your trust in your pack- yet there is something blocking them from protecting you. Something has been done to mute your connection to your pack. You will have to trust them to figure this out- do not give in to the pain and the allure. The Venom cannot save you, that path leads only to destruction."_ _The Great wolf sat as the other wolves continued to pace, Paul managed to easily pick his own out. It was snarling and foaming at the mouth, ready for the kill. His wolf, it seemed, was ready to kill for Bella- even in this place, wherever it was._

" _I can't, Great One." Bella gasped out in desperation. "My strength is failing."_

" _Your wolf will come, Daughter. When your connection to the Pack is restored you will have their strength to call upon, and only then will you be able to contain and defeat this threat. Hold yourself strong, my child. You must hold yourself strong."_ _The Great Wolf held his nose to the air and howled a heart wrenching howl into the darkness, his howl was long and tortured- Bella wondered if he was trying to howl for help of some kind, but she wasn't sure. Her vision began to darken and her body swayed in the grasp of the Venom._

* * *

Paul, Embry, Sam, and Jared ran after Jacob around to the front of the half destroyed cabin, the Keeper stood at the newly created entrance with a pensive look on her face. Jacob rushed past her only to be stopped by an old and ancient hand on his arm- he jerked as if electrocuted.

 _"You cannot help her, young wolf."_ The Keeper wasn't looking at Jacob as she spoke, her eyes had not left Paul. _"Only her true imprint, her mate, can help her now. Though he will need your help to do it."_

Jacob visibly blanched in his anger- he didn't want to help Paul. He still wanted to tear him apart, still wanted to murder him in cold blood. Paul had still stolen _his_ Bella away, and no one was stopping the man whore from doing it either, and that was the worst feeling to Jacob. He turned to look from the Keeper to the Pack, his eyes falling to Paul as well. They narrowed for a moment before he finally slumped a little.

"What must we do, Keeper?" Jacob asked quietly. "How do we save Bella?"

 _"Her mate must mark her with a permanent and unbreakable bond. It will tie their very spirits together- but it will also tie her to the Pack, the Tribe, and the Land."_ The Keeper replied with a wan smile. _"He will need to bite his first mark, and within the new mark he will need to add his Pack brother's blood- to tie her to the Pack and the land of the Protectors. This mark is permanent and unbreakable, and is used in only the direst of circumstances. This cannot be taken back once done."_

"What ties her to the Tribe?" Jacob's eyes narrowed again as he thought about it. There was only way that it would tie her to the Tribe that he could think of but he really didn't want to think about that right now. His hope was that he was completely wrong.

He wasn't.

 _"This mark, like any mark, constitutes marriage under the oldest of Tribal laws. However, this mark cannot be refuted by the Council- they cannot deny the binding of two into one, all they can do is delay it. Isabella would become Paul's wife, according to Tribal law."_ The Keeper's eyes still held Paul's as she spoke, gauging his reactions to her words. His eyes widened as she spoke. _"She will have full protection from the Pack and Tribe, and nothing could break that bond."_

"How does marrying her against her **will** to Paul fucking help?!" Jacob's body shook even under the hold of the Keeper, causing the other wolves to step forward to intervene if needed. "She isn't even conscious and you're scheming to tie her to him for the rest of her life. Does she even get a say?!"

 _"In a way, young one."_ The Keeper replied somberly. _"Her Spirit has already chosen the Pack, though she does not yet realize the Pack is more than a vision in her mind. She has already chosen even if she did not realize the full extent of her choice when she made it."_

"That…" Jacob growled deeply as his eyes found Bella's prone and pale form. She was barely breathing. He slumped to his knees, defeated. He took a deep breath and choked a sob. "Fine. If it saves her life, do it. But I will fight this, I will not allow her to be forced to remain married to Paul in the end."

No one said anything as the Keeper let go of Jacob's arm and moved into the destroyed cabin and picked up an intricately carved wooden bowl. There were wolves and what looked like ravens along the outside of the edge of the bowl. It was shallow and the insides shown with the iridescent rainbow colors of mother-of-pearl. She brought the bowl forward to Paul, handing it and a small black bladed knife to the tense wolf.

 _"You will need your Brother's blood, willingly given, for this to work. Your own blood is not required because it already flows through her veins, but you can add it again- to strengthen the bond."_ The Keeper's white eyes were serious as she looked at Paul. _"The blade is ceremonial and made of black lightening glass, given to us by the Spirits themselves- this was the very blade that Taha Aki's imprint ended her life, and saved the Tribe, with. Use it wisely, young wolf, for time has not dulled its edge."_

Paul took the knife carefully, holding it in his right hand with the bowl on his left. He looked to Sam and gestured for his Alpha to cut him, Embry took the bowl and held it beneath Paul's wrist. Sam took the blade soberly and took a deep breath.

"Do you willingly give your blood, this connection to your power within, to save your imprint, Bella?" Sam asked in a quiet voice. Paul gave a nod and a small sound of acceptance- the Alpha looked to the Keeper who nodded, apparently a verbal 'yes' was not required. Sam slashed Paul's wrist lightly, causing blood to flow. "It is done."

Paul pulled his hand away from the bowl, it continued to bleed for a few moments onto the ground before his wrist healed fully. He took the bowl from Embry and held it out to Sam, who stepped up with his own wrist ready.

"Do you willingly give your blood, this connection to your power within, to save your imprint, Bella?" Paul asked, causing Jacob's eyes to shoot up to the scene. He had heard of the legends about imprinting, but the only thing he could remember was that it was supposedly very rare. How could they have imprinted on Bella together? Sam nodded his head and gave a quiet 'yes' before Paul drug the knife blade across his skin. "It is done."

The process was continued on through Jared and Embry, both agreeing to give their blood and power to save their imprint Bella- Jacob becoming more and more confused with each member of the Pack. How could they all have imprinted on her?! What was going on here?

Paul stepped towards Jacob, who had not gotten off his knees, and leaned down to his final Pack Brother. He didn't enjoy the idea of having to ask Jacob for his blood- but the Keeper had been very clear that all of his Pack must give blood, now and again when the pack grew- if it grew.

"Do you willingly give your blood, this connection to your power within, to save Bella?" Paul asked quietly, his voice wavering in its strength. Jacob hesitated for a moment, staring at the bowl filled with the blood of the other wolves. Paul almost growled as Jacob thought about it, but held his instincts back- he knew that if he upset Jacob more than he already was then he wouldn't give his blood.

"As much as I don't want to, I will." Jacob replied as he held his own hand out to Paul, palm up. Paul breathed a heavy sigh of relief as he lightly pulled the black glass blade along the skin of his newest Brother. He would have to thank him, eventually.

Jacob's blood hit the bowl and it began to twist and swirl, the Keeper lurched forward and took it from Paul's hand.

 _"This is something best done alone,"_ The Keeper said in her echoing otherworldly voice. " _Since I no longer have a front door- could the rest of the Pack go by the fire? Or even the spring? This part of the marking is very… intimate."_

Sam nodded and he stepped forward to grab Jacob- pulling the new wolf to his feet. In silence the four walked towards the pool of water in front of the cabin, near the opening to the meadow that they had arrived at. Jacob's bike was sitting on its side near the trees, having slid there when he threw his body off of it.

Paul knelt next to Bella, the Keeper standing next to him. She held the bowl of blood in her hand, chanting over it quietly. She stopped when Paul hesitated, unsure of what to do next.

 _"For this to work you will have to **choose** her, young one. You will have to lay bare everything you have done; you will have to choose her and only her. Once you have done that, once you have said what must be said, it will be time to mark her again."_ Paul opened his mouth to speak but the Keeper hushed him with a wave of her hand. _"You will know when it is time, your wolf will tell you. Once you have bitten her make sure to break the skin again, your saliva from before has already begun to heal the first mark. I will give you the bowl when you are ready. Pour the blood into your mouth and then bite her one last time over the marked area. Lick the blood onto the wound, it and your saliva will do the rest."_

Paul didn't really fancy the idea of having the blood in his mouth, even for something like this, but he knew that he didn't have any other choice. He leaned down to Bella, even from his knees he was taller than where she was laying. He brought his mouth close to her ear, his lips barely touching it. He took a small breath in to bring her scent into his nose, the light spiced smell giving him strength.

"Bella, my little Swan, my imprint, my mate… I know that you may not understand, nor do you know what is going on right now, but I am so sorry for what I have done. I denied you, the chance to know you, the chance to love you. I was selfish and angry- and through those actions I caused your separation from the Pack and the strength that could have saved you weeks ago." Paul pressed his lips gently against her neck just below the ear. He moved his lips downward gently, kissing the skin and licking. He was supposed to choose her and in his mind this felt right. When he reached the bite mark from before he stopped and waited. "I apologize for the pain, my Swan, but I cannot lose you. I may not know if I love you yet, but I will admit that here and now I choose you and only you. I pray you can forgive me someday."

With that he sunk his teeth, more wolf-like than human somehow- directly into Bella's previous mark. He bit until he could taste blood, drawing some into his mouth for a moment out of instinct. He made sure not to lick the wound before looking towards the Keeper. She handed him the bowl of blood, he brought it to his lips.

Before he could pour the blood into his mouth, however, an angry voice stopped his movements.

"This will stop _now,_ by order of the Tribal Council!" Old Quil's voice rang out through the meadow. Standing at the opening, near the forgotten motorbike, was the entire council. Billy in his wheelchair, pushed by Joshua. Harry Clearwater and Old Quil stood side-by-side behind the only woman on the council, the widow Akil.

"Paul Lahote, as a council elder and your Chief, I am commanding you to stop what you're doing." Billy's voice was less rough than Old Quil's- but no less commanding. When Paul refused to drop the bowl, though Billy didn't know what was in it, he called out to Sam instead. "Samuel Uley, order your wolf to stop what he is doing."

Sam winced, Billy's command hitting him deeply. It was the role of the protector to follow the orders of his Chief, to protect his tribe. He would have to order Paul- there was nothing that he could really do to stop the compulsion at this point. Before Sam could turn to order Paul, though, a growling voice was heard through the meadow- Sam closed his eyes in both relief and fear.

" **No.** " Paul's voice was deep and more animal than human as he called out to the Council. Paul poured the blood into his mouth and then latched onto the bite mark he had just made on Bella's neck. Licking the blood across the wound he could literally feel her body taking it in as the wound closed under his mouth. Pulling away finally, once the wound had fully closed, Paul wiped the blood that had spilled- Bella's and that of his Pack mates- from his mouth and stood, turning to face his Pack and Council.

"What have you done?!" Old Quil yelled out, taking a few steps forward towards Paul and Bella. The rest of the Pack, including Jacob, stepped between the angry man and the cabin. They refused to allow the Council member to pass. "What are you doing?"

 _"They are protecting the imprint of one of their own. She is now bound to the land, the Pack, the Tribe, and her husband."_ The Keeper's voice rang through the once-peaceful meadow.

"Her husband?!" Billy's gruff voice was near apoplectic, he leaned forward as if to attempt to stand. "What is going on here, Samuel?"

"It is a long story, and one best said around the fire- Billy." Sam replied as he turned away from his Chief and walked towards the fire that was still roaring and large next to the cabin. "If you can manage to do so without interrupting us, then please join us for a while."

* * *

 _Bella was on the ground again, her body even more broken than she could have imagined possible. She couldn't find the strength to stand, not this time._

 _"I am sorry, Great One." Bella's voice was barely more than a whisper. She it was so far gone from repeatedly crying- her throat felt like it was on fire. "I don't know if I can get up."_

 _" **You must, Warrior."**_ _The Great Wolf's voice was pleading; he had watched the girl go through more than he believed even one of his wolves could have withstood. The Venom had quickly become relentless in its anger and pursuit of Bella's torture._ _ **"Your wolf is coming; you must hold on."**_

 _"You keep telling me he is coming, but he has not. I am alone in this, Great One." Bella sobbed as the Venom laughed. Just as she began to open her mouth one last time, a new voice cut through the darkness. She couldn't make it out well, but the voice was very male._

 _"I apologize for the pain, my Swan, but I cannot lose you. I may not know if I love you yet, but I will admit that here and now I choose you and only you. I pray you can forgive me someday." The voice was stark against the darkness, a light where there had been nothing but void._

 _Suddenly Bella felt a flash of pain where her neck met her shoulders, right in the dip of her collarbone. She screamed loudly only to be drowned out by the angry growls of the wolves and the incessant hissing of the Venom. She writhed in pain on the ground, clutching the wound that was bleeding again._

 _" **He has come for you, Daughter. Summon the rest of your strength, summon the Warrior within your heart."**_ _The Great Wolf said as the rest of the Pack, including a new wolf- brown and snarling, sprang forward._ _ **"Summon the strength of the Pack to you- you have to summon them."**_

 _Summon? Bella could barely thing through the pain but she found her mouth opening once again, her screams and cries stopped momentarily._

 _"Through blood and life force I request the strength of the Pack- please." Bella wasn't sure what she was saying- but the pain began to recede as the wolves jumped forward as a single unit- attacking the Venom and driving it back in force. Only the Great Wolf remained, ancient and unmoving. He knelt down to Bella and nosed her gently, nuzzling her face with his greying snout._

 _" **You have done well, Daughter. And now the strength of the Pack will live within you- flow through you- protect you. Remember Daughter, Warrior, that this is the first test of many- that you have a great choice before you, a role to play."**_ _The Great Wolf pressed his nose gently against Bella's forehead for a moment, her eyes fluttered a little. She was suddenly very tired._ _ **"Sleep, dear one. You must heal, so sleep."**_

* * *

 _A/N: I know, I know; another overly long chapter. I do apologize for the cuts in it but it played out best in my mind this way- I do so hope that you enjoy! The next one will be the final for this part of the plot (and thankfully the last true "setup" chapter!). There will be a small time cut, a few weeks, after next chapter. I do apologize for that, but there isn't much to build an in between chapter out of._

 _Thank you again to all readers and those who have reviewed! I hope you enjoy!_


	22. Proposing a Test

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

Paul turned and walked back to the cot on which his imprint, and now wife under Tribal law, was still lying- her body stone still but she wasn't near as pale. Her heartbeat was stronger now too, he could hear it as he knelt down.

He blocked out the angry chatter from the Council members and the indistinct voices of his Pack mates as he leaned down to rest his forehead against Bella's unconscious one. He brushed a hand against her hair, reveling in what he feared would be the last time he would get to touch her for a while. She was a fighter, a warrior, and she was _his._ He rubbed his cheek against hers as he sought the skin under her ear again, planting a single chaste kiss to the soft skin.

"I choose you, Bella. I won't let you down again." Paul trailed soft kisses to the mark, _his_ mark, and places a kiss over the imprint of his teeth. Her heart jolted at the touch, making him smile a little. "I can't say that I love you, because I am not sure of that yet. But I am very much sure that I can't live without you. I only hope that is enough when you wake."

The Keeper placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, it slumped under her hand. The reality of what he had just done; the choice he had made and taken from her, the fact he had openly denied an order by the Council, all of the things he did that led them here- the other women and the disconnect _he_ had caused. Paul wasn't sure that the Council's wrath was going to be so bad compared to that of the pale woman in front of him when she found out just exactly _what_ he had done. _**All**_ of it.

" _She is strong, young wolf. She will awaken soon- though her memory of these events may not be there."_ The Keeper's voice was steady, like that of calm ocean waves, it gave Paul a sense of serenity he didn't know existed for a moment. _"She is yours now, bound by blood and life. However, her heart has yet to truly decide. That you will have to win on your own."_

"And I'm off to a fucking right start on that one." Paul growled to himself as he stood and turned to the Keeper, he held out his arm to the woman. "But let's get this over with, because I think Jacob and I owe you a new front door, and wall."

" _That you do, wolf, that you do"_ The Keeper's laugh was bright and airy, surprising given the current circumstances. The two walked through the broken remains of the front wall and around the cabin to where the others were.

The distinct separation was entirely obvious as the Council sat on one side of the fire, further from the cabin, and the Pack stood on the other. Both Embry and Jared were standing on the side of the fire closest to the front opening of the cabin, their bodies full of intensity and coiled. Paul was glad that they understood his fears of the Council somehow physically getting to and hurting Bella.

" _Chief Black, it is truly a rarity that you visit anymore."_ The Keeper regarded Billy and the Council. _"Rarer so that I get visited by_ _ **anyone**_ _in the council… To what do I owe the pleasure of your company? What is it that you seek?"_

"We were seeking the whys surrounding a certain pale-face, Keeper." Old Quil said before anyone could stop him. Billy made a noise in his throat as if to shush the other man but he continued on without so much as a thought to stopping. "She is not of Quileute descent, her blood line paler than the moon. She consorts, and has probably had sexual relations with, the Cold Ones. This girl is not worthy of being a Quileute even if it were by blood relations! And yet here the Pack is going against the Council's wishes for safety and patience!"

" _They followed only the advice I gave, Council Member Ateara."_ The Keeper's eyes were hard as she looked at the Council as a whole. _"She is the true imprint of the current Pack's best fighter. She is_ _ **also**_ _the secondary imprint of the rest of the Pack- current members and future. As long as she breathes the Pack will be connected to her- they need but look in her eyes."_

"You did not tell the Council that information, Samuel." Old Quil rounded on the Alpha, not oblivious to the fact that he owed the Keeper respect even though he did not agree with her actions or words. "Why was this kept from the Council?"

"I told my Chief, Billy Black. He sent me to the Keeper who could offer no knowledge other than that it was a needed bond. What my Chief did with that information was his choice- not my own." Sam replied blandly, staring at the fire.

"You should have immediately come to the Council with that information!" The widow, Akil, screeched before Old Quil could even open his mouth. "She has consorted with the Cold Ones- she was brought here in September having been _tortured_ by one of them and was still eaten up after their sudden departure!"

" _She is fighting the Venom within her."_ The Keeper's voice called for complete silence as she spoke, stopping Paul and Sam from yelling their responses to the Council. _"She was bitten before, and even though the Venom was stopped by removal there will always be some below the surface- waiting. When she was attacked again recently that Cold One left enough Venom within her that it should have stopped her heart completely- yet it did not. This is_ _ **only**_ _due to her connection to the Pack- made in the direst of circumstances, it protected her enough. However, the strongest of bonds was severed shortly after creation; the imprint was denied through the selfish choices of the man, his Alpha, and the Council."_

"We acted for the good of the Tribe, Keeper. You especially, with all of your great sight, should know that we would _never_ deny a wolf his imprint were it not a danger to the Pack and the Tribe!" Old Quil was the quickest to respond this time, Billy again coughing in the back of his throat to ask for silence. "Bella Swan is not Quileute, she is not even native of this land! Emily Young was not denied due to her familial connection to not only the Land but the Tribe- and her relative safety."

Sam growled and moved to step forward. Surprisingly, it was Jacob who moved to stop the current Alpha from answering the slight to the worth of Emily as an imprint.

"Old Quil, Council Member, Tribal Elder- I must ask you to refrain from making such comments." Jacob said through clenched teeth. He hadn't felt too angry at the slight to Emily- it was the way they spoke of Bella, the belittling, that was bugging him.

"Who are you to question and order a Council Member, you arrogant Pup?!" Akil rushed to Old Quil's defense, Billy began to turn a dark shade in the neck and jaw. His knuckles paled on the arm rests of his chair. "You shouldn't even be here, you are not Pack!"

Jacob's only response to that was to back up, drop the borrowed pants, and phase before the Council. He was just a hair smaller than Paul- who was second only to Sam. His russet colored fur blew with the light breeze that flowed over the suddenly silent group. Jacob pulled his lip above his teeth in a small growl, he circled the fire and the Council in a slow stalking motion.

"Jacob, please," Billy's exasperated tone was also slightly amused. Trust his son. "You have made your point, if you could return to your natural body."

" _Both bodies are natural to the Protectors."_ The Keeper laughed a little as Jacob sauntered back to his pants and began the shift back to human. He showed no modesty as he stood naked before the fire, pulling his pants on as slowly as he could manage while staring down the Council. _"Now, to get back to the issue at hand. Her bond was broken by the selfish choices of everyone else but her- she was left in the dark."_ A look from the Keeper silenced the rebuttal that began to spill from Old Quil's lips. _"Through the strength of her own self, she found the Venom within. The bonds to the Pack began to wither, and could have eventually died. She would have been fully alone then, and would have failed to save herself."_

"So she would have died?" Billy asked quietly, looking down in what seemed like a modicum of shame.

" _Worse, my Chief. She would have turned, the Venom in her system killing and rejuvenating her cells as it broke her body."_ The Keeper's voice was quiet, solemn. _"She would have become a Cold One herself which-"_ The Keeper was suddenly cut off.

"She would have deserved that fate," Old Quil muttered loud enough for all to hear- suddenly all five wolves were crouched and coiled- ready to pounce and attack the threat to Bella. Jacob was only a fraction of a second behind the rest, a little slower due to the fact he had not yet imprinted on Bella- his blood flowed through her body but he had not looked in her eyes.

" _ **Enough!**_ _"_ The Keeper's yell and wave of her hands stilled the wolves, their bodies still tense and ready. Their snarls stopped at least. The Keeper fixed Old Quil a stern glare, narrowing her eyes and setting her jawline. _"The girl Bella Swan has now been bound to the Land, the Tribe, the Pack, and her husband Paul Lahote through blood, life, and mark. She is Quileute now just as she is Pack. Before even the mark, the imprint, and the bonding she was the One Who Will Know- and even_ _ **you**_ _should remember that story, Ateara."_

"Be that as it may, Keeper," Billy's voice was steady and calm as he spoke, taking control of the conversation before Old Quil could do so again. "There has still been a serious breach of both trust and communication between the Pack and Council. They have _willingly_ hidden a marked imprint, a forbidden imprint, from the Council. While hidden away the Pack decided to bind and mark the girl _again_. It matters little the whys of the situation- Tribal law is strict on these matters. I have no choice but to pass judgement on the Pack."

" _Before you do, my Chief, might I remind you that I can overrule your judgement. The Keeper's job is to protect the Land, Tribe, and Pack on both a physical and spiritual level- to commune with the very Spirits from which we gained our royal wolf bloodline."_ The Keeper was testing Billy, bluffing him. He knew it, could see it in her white eyes. Old Quil took the bait, however, and began to talk rather loudly again.

"You would jeopardize the safety of the Tribe, the strength of the Pack, everything you stand for... for what? A pale face who once dreamed of being a Cold One? She could possibly still wish that! She knows too much, she could-"

" _ **She knows nothing, Quil Ateara."**_ A new voice proclaimed from the fire. In the flames stood a great wolf, ancient and much larger than anyone had ever seen. _**"How dark your Spirit has become with your age, has it not? The girl has been in a suspended state, her body protecting itself while her Spirit lay in the in between. She doesn't even know if what she has experienced is**_ _ **real**_ _ **. To her, it is nothing more than a dream. A nightmare."**_

While the vision in the fire spoke the five wolves instantly found themselves kneeling to the visage. All looked confused, not sure why their bodies had done such a thing without their knowledge or want. The wolf within them knew the First Wolf by sight and voice, it was in respect to that fact that they knelt onto the ground.

" _How nice of you to join us, Taha Aki."_ The Keeper mused with a wry smile. _"It has been too long since you graced my cabin with your presence. To what do I owe this magnificent appearance?"_

" _ **I have come to prove to the dark souled one that this girl is truly an imprint, a Warrior, a Daughter."**_ Images began to appear in the fire, voices eerily drifted out of the coals. Bella's was unmistakable, as was the Great Wolf and his deep timbre. A third voice, coming from a silvery grey mass, made all who heard it shiver. It was not a voice meant for their ears. _**"You may still test her worth, if you must, but she chose the Pack- she chose her wolf. Unconsciously she has chosen and is now bound. I must ask you, Chief Black, one of my bloodline, to consider the strength of the Pack, the imprint herself, and the bond shared."**_

With that the Great One disappeared and the fire went back to its normal flickering, still ragingly high however. The silence that fell over the group was thick, tangible almost. Old Quil finally had nothing to say, neither did the widow Akil. It was, in fact, Harry Clearwater who spoke first to break the thickened air.

"If we are truly afraid of her strength and her ability to bring that strength to the Pack then I say we test her- as the great First Wolf has said." His voice was gravelly, calm, and eerily unaffected by the sight of the First Wolf in the fire. "He stated that she will not remember this, correct? And the mark will be muted against her skin- something she shouldn't notice unless she truly looks for it, lost in a sea of other scars." Paul growled a little as he stood, the spirit in the fire gone. "Return her to Samuel's house. Let her awaken there, give her a story that she was found asleep on their porch- let her marking be a fever dream. Send her back home, allow her to come to this realization on her own. Protect her like one of the Tribe- watch her house and ensure no harm comes to her, but allow her to come to this knowledge on her own. Should she manage that, and not run away from it, she will be strong enough."

" _My only advice to that is this: Do_ _ **not**_ _order her wolf away from her, that will put too much stress on their bond- it is too new to be tested in such a way. Let him protect her, let him care for her even from afar. Do not take him from her."_ The Keeper gave a soft look to Paul, a look that told him she was actually trying to help him. They both knew that the Council could still easily order him from her- and without the true consummation of their bond in place- it would die. _"Test her strength if you must- but do not damn the Pack in doing so. Do not make the field untillable."_

Billy nodded his head in agreement, and began to speak. His voice took on the same depth and timbre as Sam's did when he gave an Alpha command- there was compulsion to the words but it was not as strong or as deep of a feeling as an Apha command either.

"The girl Bella Swan shall be tested; both her loyalty to the Pack and the Land as well as her potential strength and viability to the Pack itself as a bonded imprint." Billy began, taking a breath as he continued. "She is to be given no help in finding her way to the Pack, she must do it on her own and under her own will. She shall be protected as befitting an imprint, a wife of the Pack, but she shall not be Pack until she has been brought back with knowledge. Any punishment to Pack and wolf Paul Lahote will wait until after the girl's loyalty has been tested- retribution will depend on outcome."

Silence fell as the words left Billy's lips. Paul held back a strangled sob, wishing with his entire heart to go to his imprint and to run- but he could not abandon his Pack and his Tribe. He steeled himself and squared a look at the Council. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the Council member began to speak.

"It is done." Harry Clearwater said, followed quickly by Joshua Uley and the widow Akil. The only Council member to take his time in answering was Old Quil, and finally he sighed deeply and gave a disgusted face.

"It is done."

" _The girl will awaken soon- she must be moved now if she is not to come to consciousness here."_ The Keeper nudged Paul, who ran instantly to his imprint. _"Allow her wolf to carry her, she should remain calmer in his arms."_

Paul went into the cabin and carefully picked Bella up, cradling her into his arms bridal style. He held her as close to his chest as possible, practically purring when she moved to become closer on her own- her head resting almost directly over his heart. Her touch calmed him- he closed his eyes in relish for a moment.

He walked out of the cabin, passing the Keeper and stopping only to talk to her- leaning down to whisper in her ear low enough that only she and the other wolves could hear him.

"Thank you, Keeper, for helping me save her." He whispered before leaning up and nodding to Jared and Embry, they led him out of the meadow. Silence in their wake.

Sam nodded to the Council and walked towards the meadow opening as well, stopping only to clasp the Keeper's shoulder gently for a moment. Jacob followed him within half a step, grabbing his motorbike as he reached the edge of the clearing.

"I will take this home and run to your house, Sam. Unless you think I should drive this there?" Jacob asked quietly, unsure of what his next course of action should be.

"No," Sam shook his head. "You will have to trust us with her until she leaves- I am going to Paul's house to get her truck, and then driving it to my house. Remember you're supposed to hate us? If you were to be there, when she didn't bring you before, it could arouse suspicion in her. We can't give Old Quil a reason to question her strength."

Jacob sighed, throwing an angry look back towards the Council. Sam had a point.

"Fine. I will come to your house once she has left the Res. Please, be careful with her." Jacob mounted the bike and started it- it roared to life and spun dirt upwards as he left the meadow as fast as it would take him.

"We will be, Jacob Black." Sam replied quietly, knowing the new wolf would hear him through the short distance and over the engine.

* * *

Bella awoke on an unfamiliar… thing, in an unfamiliar room, surrounded by only semi-familiar people. Where was she? What happened? She went to sit up only to become rather dizzy, a hand flying to her head as she became unsteady. She teetered dangerously towards falling off whatever she was on, only to be caught by a single, and hot, hand.

"Careful there, little Swan." Paul's deep chuckle sent shivers down her spine. He was here? Wait… what had she been doing? The baskets! Bella jolted upward, this time to her feet. She managed to remain steady, but barely, with the help of Paul. "Wow, not going to listen at _all_ , are you?"

"What happened? I was delivering baskets… And, I remember…" Her eyes widened in indignant anger. "You scared me!"

"I did," Paul nodded somberly, a 'shamed' look gracing his features. "I thought it would be funny, but you jumped and slipped- you hit your head on the bench next to the door. I am very sorry, Bella. I should not have done that."

"You shouldn't have." Bella's voice was strong and sarcastic as she narrowed her eyes at the tall native. She gently but succinctly wrenched her arm from his grasp as she turned to the rest of the people in the room- all were hiding smiles. "I am so sorry to have burdened you, how long have I been out?"

"Only a few hours. I called your father and explained that there had been an accident." Sam said with smooth tones. It wasn't really a lie- he _had_ called Charlie and pretended that there had been a small, not dangerous, accident with Bella. Charlie had swallowed it and had called to check on her once- he had reassured the Chief she was okay now. "I am sorry that Paul scared you so badly- he needs to know when to quit sometimes."

"I would say it's fine but I currently feel like my entire body has been repeatedly smashed by a truck or two. I think I should go home, lay down again." She rubbed her head, thankfully she felt no bump. "I must have stayed out due to lack of sleep- I haven't slept much at all in days."

"You are free to go, Bella, once you at least drink something. I want to make sure you're steady- I promised your father." Sam guided her to the table, Emily in the kitchen getting tea around. "Do you prefer tea or coffee?"

"Tea sounds amazing." Bella sighed in relief- she was so thirsty!

"Great, I have the water almost ready!" Emily gave a bright smile before she moved towards the table with a pot and two glasses on saucers. Embry followed behind her with three tins, all of them holding different tea. His other hand held two diffusers. "While we drink I can talk to you about the cookbooks- I love them!"

The girls sat down and each made tea, Emily made an herbal tea while Bella chose the mint tea. They sat for about twenty minutes and talked, gushing to each other about some of the recipes in the books Bella had found for Emily. They were all relatively easy to prepare and didn't take many pans or ingredients. They were also intended to feed families, comfort food style. Emily kept telling her how she loved them.

Once they were done drinking Bella smiled and stood, ready to leave.

"Thank you for taking care of me Sam, Emily. But I think I should be going. It is late and I still need to make Charlie and I dinner." She turned to Paul, her eyes chastising but her voice slightly joking. "If I visit again do you promise not to knock me out again?"

Paul laughed and held up his hands in a mocking way. "No promises, little Swan."

"And stop with the pet name, it's silly. I'm not _that_ little." Embry and Jared burst into laughter, unable to contain themselves at the idea of Bella thinking she wasn't somehow tiny. She rounded on them. "Well maybe compared to _you!_ " She turned back to Emily and smiled, handing him a small piece of paper from her pocket. It was her phone number. "I would love to come back, if I can. We can try some of those recipes together!"

"We should!" Emily gave the girl a soft embrace as she walked past, holding her shoulders as she walked to the door. "You are welcome any time you need, Bella."

Bella waved with a bright smile and climbed into her truck. She turned the keys and it roared to life, waving one more time she backed out of the drive way and onto the dirt road. Something pulled at her as she drove, but she couldn't stay any longer. Charlie needed her.

"By Paul, you goofball." Bella said quietly to herself as she drove, opening the window for a little of the cool winter air- it was oddly warm for the time of year. "Hope to see you soon."

* * *

On the porch of his Alpha's house, Paul smiled as he heard the soft goodbye. She hadn't meant for him to hear it obviously, but the fact that she had said goodbye to him in such a way, so tenderly, with the hope to see him again... it gave him hope.

* * *

 _A/N: Another horridly long chapter, I am so sorry! Just a warning there will be a couple weeks to a months worth of a time jump in the next chapter, I will summarize best I can before getting to the actual chapter contents._

 _Thank you to everyone!_


	23. Needing Closure

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

Bella's surprise party for Charlie went off without a hitch, everyone she had invited had come. His officers, Billy and Jacob, Harry and Sue as well as their kids Seth and Leah, even a few of the native families she had volunteered with had come. It seemed like the outpouring of friendship, connection, and most definitely _food_ would go on forever.

Even Sam and his group came, which surprised Bella quite a lot. She had invited them, of course, but she had not expected them to actually come. It caused a little bit of tension with some of the natives and families- Bella suspected it was their sheer size and imposing natures.

She spent a lot of time with them, carefully making sure to spend time with others at the party as well. But even Charlie noticed how fluid she was around Sam and his friends- how easy she smiled and how bright she looked. It was nice for the older man to see; it was progress back to a bit of normality.

The party lasted well into the night, which had been carefully planned for New Year's Eve- so the large gathering at the Chief's house happened to ring in the new year for much of Forks and La Push.

It would be the last happy day for Bella for a while.

Her dreams were haunted by running. She was in the woods and she was running, but she couldn't ever see from what. All she could hear were the footsteps behind her and the heaving breathing of something much larger than she was.

Bella got very little sleep the entire month of January, especially on the day of her anniversary of coming to Forks. She spent that _entire_ day thinking about all of the things she had seen, done, and ran from since she had moved to the small town of her birth- the amount of it all rattled her.

She had not seen Jacob since the party for New Year's and Charlie- every time she called Billy about seeing him apparently Jacob was always either 'sick' or 'busy.' Bella thought about calling Sam and Emily before she realized that while she had left _her_ number they had not given theirs back.

The rest of January passed without much thought or consequence- Bella worked at Newton's store more, picking up hours as the seasons began to change. Bella also began to do more volunteering down at La Push- working with the older generation or the single mothers and fathers, it gave her a sense of pride as she worked.

* * *

In February that volunteer work led to a second job- requested by Tiffany Call and approved by Billy Black. Bella began to work with the woman at the souvenir shop just as winter began to end- which always signaled more tourists in the area. Bella quickly formed a friendship with the woman, she was a wonderful friend and a great, worried, mother to Embry.

It was one day late in February when Bella found out just how worried Tiffany Call truly was for her son.

"I just don't understand it, Bella. The Council keeps telling me he is doing all of this for the 'good of the Tribe,' and that he chose to do this but how could the Council tell a boy to sneak out at all hours of the night?! How could they expect him to skip school and still pass? Never talk to his own mother anymore?" Tiffany was outright sobbing at this point- Bella led her to a stool behind the counter and got her a water. She gently brushed the older woman's hair with a soft and empathetic smile.

"He seems like a good kid, Tiffany." Bella replied. "He's young, though, and maybe he's just being rebellious? Perhaps whatever the Council asked him to do has gotten to his head?"

Tiffany almost laughed and gave a sniff. She shook her head a little with a sigh.

"No, I know who has gotten to him." Tiffany began and her voice darkened. "It's that Sam Uley and his… his… oh, his _gang!_ I hate to say it but that's exactly what they are! One day late last year Embry just up and _disappears_ for nearly two weeks and then he comes back and looks twenty!"

"Yea, I remember that- I think." Bella said offhandedly as she moved to wipe down the counter gently. "It had to have been near September- because that's the first time I met him… he was big but not nearly as big as he looked at the surprise party for Charlie…"

Tiffany nodded and sniffled again, taking a deep breath in and releasing it. She ran her hands through her hair and got it back behind her face, she was composing herself.

"I know he loves me, Bella, but I am very worried for him. That Sam had such a bright future before he _changed_. It just isn't sitting right with me." Tiffany gave Bella a reassuring smile. "I'm also hurting for poor Quil Ateara, with both Embry and Jacob following Sam around now… he's been very lonely."

That perked Bella's ears- Jacob had been with Sam? So much for being sick… or even 'busy.'

The bell above the door rang as it opened, stopping Bella from questioning and bringing both of their eyes to the door. Speak of the devil and he shall appear as the saying goes, because it was Quil. He had a bundle of what looked like cloth in his hands. Once he got closer Bella could see it was actually furs, tanned and ready to be used in whatever craft Tiffany or another crafter used them for.

"My mom wanted me to drop these off, I forgot to yesterday." Quil said as he brought them towards the counter. Bella moved lithely to help, managing somehow not to trip over her own feet. Quil accepted the help with a kind, and slightly suggestive, smile. Bella reciprocated the kindness in her own. "Wow, Bella, you've filled out since I saw you last!"

"Quil Ateara! What if your mother heard you talking like that?" Tiffany mockingly scolded the boy. Pretty much everyone knew that Quil had absolutely no filter and said things before his brain caught up with him. "A compliment works, you don't need to treat Bella like meat."

"Sorry, Ms. Call." Quil turned to Bella with an apologetic look. "I didn't mean to sound like that, but you _have_ filled out quite a lot since we talked last. What's your workout secret?"

Bella set the furs down on the counter and looked at herself in the fullsize mirror to her right. She hadn't really noticed a change, but Quil was actually _right_. Her arms showed toned muscles, her calves had filled out to show even beneath her jeans. She had lost some size around her stomach, scary considering how small she had been before, but when she lifted her shirt a couple inches she could actually see musculature definition _there_ too. Bella pursed her lips and scrunched her nose in a confused look before turning to Quil.

"I guess I've just managed it somehow. I know that I've been working a lot lately, and I also started to eat a little healthier for both Charlie and I… maybe it was that." Bella shrugged and Quil snorted but said nothing. Rolling her eyes Bella continued. "You know, some people just bloom later than others, Quil- you'll get there too, you know."

"Sure I will, going to be a hot piece of man someday!" Quil wiggled his eye brows at her for a moment. "Even you won't be able to resist me then."

"Quil Ateara, if you're going to be such a… oh, such a _boy_ \- then please do so out of my hearing- I changed your diapers and don't need to be reminded that you've hit puberty." Tiffany smiled and turned to Bella. "You have been putting in quite a few hours and today is always our slow day- why don't you head out? You can have some hours to yourself for a change."

Bella nodded and looked away from the mirror, turning to grab her keys and coat from behind the counter where Tiffany sat. She gave the older woman a hug and a smile as she passed Quil, turning back to speak.

"So you're coming to dinner tomorrow, right Tiffany?" Bella asked gently, her hand on the knob to the door.

"I wouldn't miss a chance at your cooking, Bella- not only is it good but it means less dishes for me!" Tiffany laughed, the companionship between the teen and the mother quite obvious. Quil even turned up a half smile at the sight. "I'll be there at 6:30, okay?"

"That's fine- Charlie doesn't get off until five, so he might not be home until six or even 6:15." Bella smiled and gave a wave as she went to leave. "Nice seeing you again Quil!"

Bella got to her truck and found herself thinking a lot. When _had_ she started to gain muscle? She wasn't working out or anything, not beyond the usual lifting and bending that came with her jobs and volunteer hours. And that wasn't exactly a lot, was it?

Shaking off the feeling Bella started the truck and began to drive. She _did_ have some homework to do, it was due on Monday and she was only half done. Thankfully it was only a paper but still, Bella was nothing if not a small perfectionist when it came to school work.

The next day found her making a beautiful arrangement of food for dinner, she had begun working early in the day by making bread for the dinner, a sour dough that she'd been preparing now for days, and it had smelled heavenly as she pulled the loaves from the oven.

It was now afternoon, almost three from the chime of the clock, when Bella heard a gentle knocking on the door. Tilting her head inquisitively she placed her dish towel down and moved to the door. She didn't think to check who it was before opening it and was shocked at who was standing there.

"Hey Bella," Embry Call said with a small amount of shyness. He wouldn't look at her directly, he was fidgeting a lot. It was so different from the Embry at the party that she wondered what was going on. Bella moved aside and motioned for him to come in. "Thank you."

He walked past her and to the kitchen, Bella walked past him and grabbed a soda from the fridge for him- handing it to him as he sat at the table. She turned back to the vegetables she was cutting for roasting, another part to her dinner tonight.

"I wanted to stop by and say thank you for inviting my mother to dinner." Embry said as he fiddled around with the bottle. "I know she's been worried about me recently, and I know that my silence and everything isn't helping."

"Well you _could_ try talking to her," Bella said as she began to chop a few carrots. Her movements were careful; Bella knew better than to be too quick with a knife. Especially with her constant ability to hurt herself.

Embry snorted and gave a guffaw. "Yea, that wouldn't exactly end well. But I guess I probably should try to be home more…"

"Whatever helps, kiddo." Bella replied in slight annoyance, focusing on her task at hand. She was so focused that she did not hear Embry stand up and walk behind her, she barely even felt the heat of his body as he pulled himself close.

"Why have you not come back to the Sam's?" Embry asked in a whisper against Bella's ear, the girl jumped and moved the knife in a jerking motion, slicing the side of her left index finger from tip to third knuckle. Embry backed up quickly, eyes wide. "Shit! Bella, I'm sorry- I didn't mean to scare you, jeez you're jumpy, come here…"

Embry grabbed Bella's wrist with his large hand, it felt much too hot to the girl, and drug her to the sink- he placed her hand under water and began to wash it. His movements careful as he grabbed a clean towel from the cupboard and pressed it to the cut.

"It's not too deep but I should still clean it properly. You got a first aid kit?" Embry asked gently, looking down at Bella who was still staring at her finger. Embry moved Bella's right hand to put pressure on the wound and shook her a little, she looked at him with inquisitive eyes. "First aid kit?"

"Oh, yea, we have two. Below the sinks upstairs and down." Bella motioned and moved so that Embry could get it. He led her to the table and sat her down at one of the chairs, pulling a second up for himself. He pulled her hand into his lap and began to work on the cut he had caused. Embry just _knew_ that Paul was going to tear him a new one for this, not that he didn't feel bad enough as it was.

He worked in silence, cleaning the wound as he looked at it. Thankfully the Chief had what amounted to a full trauma kit minus the needles for IVs, because it meant that Embry got to use a liquid bandage instead of butterflies to hold the cut closed. Bella sat in just as much silence watching him, the way he moved and the care he used. Embry really was sweet, but something felt off- he was physically attractive to be sure, but she couldn't find herself _wanting_ him. But she did make her want in a different way- a way she could not figure out.

Once he had finished with the liquid bandage on the cut he turned her hand this way and that, making sure there wasn't any other damage- thankfully the large cut was a singular one, which meant one less thing for Paul to want to murder him over.

"There you go, try moving it around." Embry said quietly as he put up the kit and moved to clean the cutting board and knife. He checked the carrot she had been cutting and deemed all but one piece to need to be thrown away, blood contamination apparent. While Bella sat still stunned and in silence he cleaned the knife and board, drying them with her original dish towel. He waited for Bella to speak and when she didn't he took the task of cutting up the vegetables.

Bella wasn't necessarily stunned that she had cut herself- she was used to that. What stunned her was the fact that though she could literally _smell_ the blood it hadn't made her faint at all, not even a little lightheaded. She was confused more than anything. When had that happened?

When she finally looked up she realized that Embry was one sweet potato away from being done with her veggies for dinner. She shook her shock off and stood, walking to lean on the counter and look at him.

"I haven't been back because I was sure I wouldn't be… well, I wouldn't be welcomed." Bella replied softly to his earlier question that had scared her. "It seemed to me like maybe, especially after Jake stopped wanting to see me… well, it seemed like maybe I wasn't as welcome as it had seemed."

Embry's heart about broke at those words, and the tone in which they were said. He closed his eyes and tried not to slump his shoulders, he didn't want Bella to see how her words had affected him- she wouldn't understand his sadness. He finished cutting up the last sweet potato and turned to Bella, who was preparing her roasting pan now. He moved to her and took the pan from her, setting it on the counter next to the vegetables.

He pulled her into a deep and strong hug, whispering to her as he did so. "You're always welcome, Bella. We miss you." And with that he let her go and nearly launched himself out of the kitchen and front door, Bella was too stunned to follow at first- only brought out of her reverie by what sounded like a not-to-distant howl of a wolf, the sound was heart shattering to her and she still didn't know why.

Dinner went well, without any further issue. Charlie only asked about her cut once and managed to laugh it off with her usual excuse of 'clumsy' when she gave it. He then proceeded to spend the rest of dinner shamelessly trying _not_ to flirt to hard with Tiffany- who seemed to be doing the same in Bella's opinion. But what would she know, really?

* * *

Bella found herself having an itch as February became March- her dreams seemed to be calling her to the forest. She found herself desperately wanting to find the _one_ place in her dreams she recognized- the meadow that Edward had taken her to.

But why would she want to go there? Edward had left, his family had left… He had broken her, tortured her, bled her on a tree in the forest. What could she possibly be looking for in that meadow?

Then it hit her, she was looking for _closure_. She had admittedly gotten much better after the holidays, talking again and feeling stronger than ever. She had found life and happiness in a way- though she always seemed to feel somewhat empty, like a part of her was missing. She couldn't seem to find it anywhere, though she felt a little better at the Res than anywhere else.

Maybe she just needed closure. And with that thought Bella became resolved, large bear sightings or not, to find that meadow. She needed it, needed the closure.

Bella went to the living room and grabbed some of her father's maps- she thought she could find it if she really tried.

She had to.

* * *

 _A/N: Thank you, as usual, to all of my readers and those who have reviewed and commented. I will admit some of them have given me many smiles over the last few days, yesterday was admittedly the hardest of the week. But, the funeral is over and went off without a hitch (thankfully it was more of a memorial, small favors for cremation) and now I can try to find my rhythm again, I am really hoping to get back to putting out 2-3 chapters a day instead of 1._

 _I am also working on my other FanFics (One is a **complete** rewrite so it has taken me a WHILE to do) as well so I may not be able to make that goal, which is kinda eh but livable._

 _Thanks again, to everyone!_


	24. Already Chosen

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

Bella managed to slip past her father by lying about hanging out with Angela, even though she knew that Angela was in Port Angeles, and had managed to find where she _thought_ the clearing was based on the multiple maps that she had pilfered from Charlie.

Charlie was out fishing with Harry, and possibly Billy, so he was thankfully out of the way for the few hours that she needed to find the meadow and get the closure she was looking for. She headed out on the road, taking her truck to the path that she remembered in her mind- she found herself on a familiar seeming dirt road that looked as though it went to nowhere.

Parking her truck where the road ended and the forest began Bella found herself hesitating a little, part of her wishing to turn back but the rest of her wanting to surge forward. To find whatever it was she was looking for in these woods. In that darkness.

Hopping out of her truck Bella squared her shoulders and looked at the trail- dark and twisting, dangerous and calling at the same time. She _wanted_ to go in, she _wanted_ to see what lay beyond the start of those trees.

 _She wanted closure._

Bella trudged onward, however, ignoring the impending darkness of the trail. She had studied the maps repeatedly, studied where she would need to go- what direction she would need to walk. She had planned everything out, and she wasn't going to let anything stop her now.

The forest was like something out of her nightmares, it was so full of life and yet also completely bone chilling in its darkness and enclosure. Part of her wished that she had taken Embry up on the offer of going to the Res- maybe she could have convinced him to go with her? He really was a sweet kid, a little too old for his own good though.

Except if she had gone to the Res, and to Sam's, she would have probably run into her supposed best friend. She almost snorted at the thought. Yea, some _best friend_ he had been lately! Barely spoke to her at the Charlie/New Year's party, didn't even really acknowledge her… then nothing for weeks?! And all of a sudden 'oh, yea, Jake is with Sam' from Quil.

Total bullshit, if you asked her. And Bella rarely swore when she could avoid it. Though she found more recently she didn't really care if she swore or not, especially in her own mind. Who was there to hear her anyway?

The trip through the trail, which was barely enough for animals, was actually much easier for Bella than it should have been. She barely tripped, didn't stumble, and even the slow but steady climb upwards didn't seem to tire her out. What was going on with her? She had never been one for physical activity due to her ability to trip on air- and yet here she was hiking through undergrowth without even a single stumbled step. This was not normal, it wasn't _her_.

Bella didn't have much more time to think about it, for suddenly she was stepping through an archway made by two vine maples. She remembered this- she was there. The meadow was just a few more steps, through some nearly chest high ferns and other growth.

She stepped into the meadow and found it to be as she remembered- minus the flowers since they were out of season. She could almost see him there, standing in the sun- in their own little piece of sanctuary amongst the trees and off the beaten trails of other humans.

Bella felt frustrated and almost _angry_ , there was no closure here. The meadow wasn't what she had been searching for, it held nothing. It was just an open area in the woods filled with phantoms of a supposedly better time in her life. What had she really hoped to find here?

Not the person she saw when she looked up.

"Laurent!" Her gasp would be heard by the vampire, there was no doubt about that. Her eyes were wide as the visions of the past came back in an instant. She was too far away from people, but how glad she was that she had not asked Embry to come with her!

"Bella, right?" Laurent said as he strode forward slowly with a somewhat bemused expression on his face. "I was not expecting to see you, and certainly not _here._ "

"I was on a hike." Bella replied as calmly as she could manage, trying to still her quickly beating heart to no avail. She tried not to stutter, to no avail, as she continued talking. "I-I thought you went to Alaska?"

"It seems the Cullens have moved on, have they not? I came to visit them- and the house is empty." Laurent stopped less than ten feet in front of her, his red eyes staring at her intently.

"They moved on last fall." Bella replied with a strong voice now. She had come to accept- with the sight of his red eyes- that she was not leaving this meadow alive. _Poor Charlie._ "I will tell them you stopped in."

"I'm surprised they left you behind." Laurent began to walk in a small semi-circle, stalking her like a predator to prey. "Weren't you a _pet_ of theirs?"

"In a way." Was Bella's almost annoyed response.

"Ah, I see." Laurent stepped forward again, his face almost sad. "For you see, it wasn't the Cullens I was here to see. It was _you._ I came here as a favor."

"Oh, to who?" Bella asked in a nonchalant voice. She already knew the answer, in a way.

"Well, you see, Victoria is stricken with the loss of James. And I was to see just how _protected_ you were for her. She believes it is only fair a mate for a mate, fair turnabout so to speak. I don't understand it, she would have much more fun playing with Edward himself, I think." Laurent's red eyes tracked up Bella's frozen body, from the tips of her toes to her wide doe eyes. He sighed in a mixture of annoyance and reverence. "She is not going to be happy with me for this."

"For what?" Bella's terror showed in her tight tone.

Laurent stepped forward again and lightly caressed Bella's cheek. "For killing you."

"The Cullens will know it was you, they will come after you." Bella tried a last ditch plea, and it sounded just a lame coming out of her mouth as it had in her mind.

"I don't think they will." Laurent replied with something akin to glee in his voice. "From the scars on your body, healed with our venom… I would say that they used you well before leaving." He leaned in and whispered in her ear. "This is a kindness, Bella. That venom in your system will kill you, eventually. And I wouldn't wish Victoria on my enemies- let alone a mostly innocent human."

He backed up a step and assessed her, Bella matched him look for look. She may be afraid but he was not going to win, she wouldn't give him that satisfaction.

"I am hungry, Bella, and your blood truly does smell so… _enticing._ Much sweeter than a normal human, like spices or honey." Laurent whispered, reaching out again to touch Bella- this time he stroked her hair. "You'll feel very little, and compared to what Victoria has planned for you… I truly would think of this is a mercy."

Bella squared herself and prepared, Laurent snaked his hand closer to her neck. It seemed that he meant to snap it before he drained her- she truly wouldn't feel anything except for her fear now. He stopped quickly, however, his eyes looking over her shoulder to her right. Bella didn't dare move to see what had stopped the vampire but the growl she heard made her shiver.

It sounded so familiar.

"I don't believe it." Laurent took a single step back, letting go of Bella's face in the process. With her newfound freedom she carefully turned her head to see just what could _scare_ a vampire.

Her breath caught in her throat as

She saw it. A horse sized midnight black wolf was stepping from the trees, lips curled into a snarl that was anything but playful. His, Bella assumed it was male from sheer size alone, ears were pricked back- eyes intent on the two beings before it. Bella closed her eyes in sadness, the irony of being saved from a vampire only to be eaten by a wolf.

Not much better, if you asked her.

From behind the wolf walked four more, all only inches smaller at the shoulder. There was a brown one, russet colored really- he looked almost like his fur was made of rust- he stood on the far side, furthest away from her. A grey wolf with an almost black nose between that one and the black leader. On the side closest to here there stood a brown wolf, even in the aggressive stance he stood he looked like a playful thing, but it could have been the almost mask-like fur around his eyes- that was a darker grey.

It was the wolf closest to her that caught and held her attention, though. He was sleek, imposing, and completely the predator in front of her. Something in her instinctually wanted to avert her eyes and cower- to show this wolf submission. The new attitude in her, however, wanted to stand firm against him- and that part is what won out.

Bella squared herself as she turned back to Laurent, who looked from her to the wolves once more before turning and running. Bella was rather surprised that she was able to track his movements, to her it looked like he was running no faster than a human. That had to be wrong, he had to have been running, truly running. Right?

A soft touch to her side caused Bella to gasp and whip her head around. The silver wolf had stepped forward and brushed against Bella's side. From behind the wolf she saw the black one launch himself forward, followed quickly by the other three. Only the silver one remained with her for a beat longer, she looked into his eyes and felt something akin to a feeling of being whole, like this wolf was somehow home. She almost shook it off but decided not to.

Bella wanted to so much to reach out and touch the wolf, to pet him. Something in her wanted to be close to this wolf, to wrap her hands around his neck and bury her face in the fur. But she couldn't- comfortable or not he was still a wolf, and that gaze was still predatory, she just wasn't afraid of it.

The wolf nudged Bella to turn her around and pushed at her back gently with his nose, urging her out of the meadow. Suddenly there was a loud ' _yelp!'_ and the black wolf was flying backwards, it rolled and launched itself forward again with a loud snarl. The silver one dipped his head and nodded to her, a signal to run.

So run she did.

* * *

 **Sam:** _How did she even get out here?!_

 **Jared:** _I don't know, but that leech seems to know her._

The wolves were waiting, watching. The leech was a red eye, and not a Cullen, so he was fair game to kill- but when he had spoken to Bella it had stopped them. They were so focused on their collective, minus Jacob, imprint that the words of the dread locked leech slipped through their mind, in one ear and out the other as the saying goes.

 **Paul:** _Can we just fucking_ _ **kill**_ _him already?_ Paul was on edge with the leech so close to his mate, though he was on edge enough already since he hadn't seen her in months, and what Embry had showed him in his head… the desolation and rejection in her mind. That had nearly broken him. _I don't_ _ **care**_ _if she sees us at this point, I want his ass burned_ _ **now**_ _!_

 **Jake:** _We can't, Paul, so chill. If she sees us Old Quil could use that to banish her completely, not just make her uncomfortable._

 **Paul:** _He and the Council can suck my d-_

 **Sam:** _Paul! Focus!_

The leech stepped forward and stopped within arm's reach of the girl, all four wolves imprinted on her growled lightly- Sam took a few steps forward. The thing had to be engrossed in her to not notice their presence after that, it should have heard them. It didn't even look up.

What a present for them.

"I am hungry, Bella, and your blood truly does smell so… _enticing._ Much sweeter than a normal human, like spices or honey." The leech was whispering but to the wolves it was as if he had yelled to them- all five of them instantly tense and ready to spring. "You'll feel very little, and compared to what Victoria has planned for you… I truly would think of this is a mercy."

 **Paul:** _I fucking swear if we stand her and let him kill her just because of the fucking Council I will tear you apart, Sam!_

 **Sam:** _Step with me, we aren't going to let her get eaten. She is Pack, we can protect her under these circumstances._

 **Jared:** _Good, because I'm_ _ **itching**_ _to tear something apart right now._

The wolves stepped from the trees. Sam walked through the line first and lead the group. Jake was, by order, furthest from Bella- on the far side. Embry stood between Jake and Sam, a line of defense if the young wolf tried to fight the Alpha order to stay away from Bella.

Jared stood between Sam and Paul, with Paul closest to Bella. There was nothing Sam could have said or ordered that would have kept the wolf further from his imprint than that, so Sam let it be.

Bella gasped and the fear rolled off her in waves. With the fear was mixed acceptance. It broke their hearts for a moment- the realization that Bella _expected_ them to kill her. She was waiting, squared and ready, to die by the hands of either the wolves or the leech. Paul gave a growl at the idea.

Once the leech had turned and ran, Paul stepped closer to Bella. He needed her to leave, to be safe. He needed her far away from the carnage and the fight. When Bella looked at him he preened, his mate was fixated on his eyes. He knew they were darker than normal but something in him hoped that she would see the humanity, the _Paul_ , in those eyes.

She stared at them and relaxed, a level of trust forming in that moment that Paul wanted so badly. She wasn't afraid of him, it seemed to him that she almost wanted to touch him. She thought better of the idea, apparently, which was a good thing. Paul wouldn't have been able to concentrate if she had reached out and touched him.

Instead he touched her, nosing her around to the opening of the clearing and pushing her forward. She hesitated for a moment, Sam being launched backwards with a whine breaking their connection for a moment. He almost growled, there was a still a leech to kill. Paul nodded to Bella, eyes never leaving her, in an entreaty to run.

Thankfully, she did.

* * *

Bella was running through the forest at a healthy clip, surprisingly she managed not to trip over anything as she bolted. The branches and undergrowth scratched at her feet and legs, a couple nabbed her arms and left scratches she was sure would bleed.

Her mind was a mess, so many thoughts swirling in them. Wolves. She had been dreaming of wolves, she had _dreamed_ of that silver wolf.

Bella's brain felt hazy as she heard voices in her mind. One sounded like the Great Wolf from her dreams, the other was Jacob. Jacob back when he was innocent, and young, and full of laughter and life. Jacob before he was taken away from his friends and life by _Sam._

" _Well, there are lots of legends, some of them claiming to date back to the Flood - supposedly, the ancient Quileutes tied their canoes to the tops of the tallest trees on the mountain to survive like Noah and the ark. Another legend claims that we descended from wolves - and that the wolves are our brothers still. It's against tribal law to kill them"_

" **Remember, Daughter, remember your wolf. You must choose your path; your wolf and his Pack or destruction."**

Bella shook her head as she ran even harder, faster… She had to get out of here! She had to get home, back to Charlie, back to safety. Back to… she wasn't even sure what she was going back to anymore, let alone what she was even running _from_.

 _"Yes. There are stories of the cold ones as old as the wolf legends, and some much more recent. According to legend, my own great-grandfather knew some of them. He was the one who made the treaty that kept them off our land."_

" **The choice is yours…"**

 _"The cold ones are traditionally our enemies. But this pack that came to our territory during my great-grandfather's time was different. They didn't hunt the way others of their kind did - they weren't supposed to be dangerous to the tribe. So my great-grandfather made a truce with them. If they would promise to stay off our lands, we wouldn't expose them to the pale-faces."_

Bella couldn't take it anymore, she pressed her hands to her head and let out an agonizing scream as she fell to her knees in the middle of the woods. Yelling out of frustration and fear. She pulled at her hair gently as she began to sob.

"It's too much." Bella cried to herself there in the dark, breathing as deeply as her sobbing could allow. She sat there and cried for she didn't even know how long, her heart finally shattering into place, the pieces she had hidden away laid bare to the kind of Spring air. She couldn't take the dreams, the rejection, the pain.

Why hadn't they called? Emily had seemed so nice… Embry was sweet, always, and even when he'd been at her house a few days prior he seemed like there was something he was itching to tell her- some secret she was being left out of.

" **It will all end when you choose…"**

Bella began to sob even harder as the last whisper with the wind found its way into her mind, she broke down and tried to not completely lose herself in her tears.

"I thought I already chose," Bella cried as she buried her face as deep as she could in her hands before falling over. Her entire body suddenly felt lethargic, broken down, and devoid of the life it once held. "I made my choice- why must you haunt me?"

She stayed there on the forest floor for a little while longer, crying herself out. Only when she couldn't cry anymore, when the tears were fully gone and she had nothing left to give to her confusing grief did Bella even try to move from the curled position she had taken on the damp earth.

She straightened automatically, stretched and popped a few joints unintentionally. Her silence was deafening as she stood and began to walk back down the trail- back to her truck, to Charlie, to Forks, to a life she wasn't sure she even _wanted_ anymore.

* * *

Far enough away that the human could not see or hear them stood five shirtless native men, only one of them looked like he was standing of his own volition- the others looked to be fighting against invisible ropes.

They had heard it all, the heart wrenching suffering in the initial scream and the drowning maelstrom of sadness of the tears that flowed after. The curled human figure so fragile against the dark backdrop of the forest floor.

For Sam Uley, the Alpha, this pain was insurmountable- he felt it _all._ Not only for his imprint who lay there crying, daughter though she may feel, but for the Pack who he had to _order_ in place to ensure they did not go to her.

He could feel all of their sadness, their anger, their grief. It was a heady mixture and not one he wished to drink from for much longer.

Her pain needed to end, and soon, or the Pack was going to fall apart.

* * *

 _A/N: Thank you to all of my readers, I am extend so much gratitude to everyone who has stuck with this story thus far- it means so much to me!_

 _A little note to my readers, however, to clear a few things up for the next chapter: Yes I know that I've teased a **lot** of stuff- the plot is a little twisting and kinda semi-complicated so it takes some time to get to the "juicy" stuff. For those who have asked (thankfully privately) **yes** there **will** be a Paul/Bella lemon scene or two- but this is a legitimately slow burn story, the lemons will be worth it when they get here- but they have to grow first! (Meaning: I have never understood stories that have Paul and Bella fucking within 2 days or less of meeting. Even with the imprint bond it's hard for me to swallow- not saying that those stories are bad! Just that I don't understand.)_

 _There will be a bit of a timeline change in the next chapter, but it fits well and wrote real well when I did it pen-and-paper, just gotta type it up!_


	25. Giving Them Life

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

Bella awoke the next morning at and ungodly hour with a resolve she didn't even know she had. Her dreams had been filled with the wolves, as usual since her attack in September, worse since that weird week before the New Year's party… Those dreams, the wolves within them- there was only one answer she could think of when she thought about it.

Sam, Jared, Paul, Embry, all of them- possibly even Jacob now. They all had to be the wolves of legend- the wolves in her dreams. The Great Wolf had spoken to her again in her dreams, reminding her of her choice. Reminding her that she had already chosen, that she needed to prove her choice.

She almost growled at the total bullshit. If she had already _chosen_ then why, or how, did she prove it?!

Then it hit her. _Victoria._ With Victoria coming hard and fast, and most likely _soon_ for her- she knew what she could do. What she could show them, prove to them, that she had chosen them.

She needed paper, a pen, and envelopes. She had letters to write.

Bella wrote three letters; one for Jacob, one for her father, and one for Sam and his pack. She brought all of them with her to the Res- thanking every deity possible that Tiffany Call had accepted her lame excuse of needing a ride because her truck had died.

Thankfully Tiffany hadn't decided to question why Charlie would be coming later to 'pick her up,' as the lie she had told had said.

As much as she hated lying- right now it was needed.

The Black house looked empty as she walked up to it, the day was dreary and raining, cold but not freezing in intensity. She left the letters for on Billy's porch in the usual 'drop of spot' before turning to leave, running her hand along the bannister of the porch before she walked away. Bella hoped that Jacob would read his, and tell his father, before he hauled off and gave Charlie his letter.

If they ever gave Charlie his letter.

Bella walked through the Res, smiling and greeting those she saw and knew. She wasn't surprised when she didn't see any of Sam's little group in town. If they didn't want her around, which had become obvious, they wouldn't come to see her- would they?

Slipping away onto a trail used mostly by the same boys, or men she supposed, that she was trying to run from. It led up a partially steep incline along the cliffs and shore, she could hear the waves crashing against the face and rocks below her. The smell of the salty air made things much more tense, much more foreboding, it solidified the _reality_ of what she was about to do.

The choice she was making for the wolves.

Bella continued her climb to the top, holding her arms tightly against her sides to hold the thin hoodie she was wearing closer to her already freezing body. The trees brushed against her; the ferns a made a soft ' _shushing'_ noise as they brushed and held her pants as she passed. Bella didn't mind the silence, it made her choice that much more comfortable to live with.

As she climbed she could hear the Great Wolf speaking to her again, his voice ever present in her mind since the day before- a haunting reminder of her latest, and final, rejection.

" **You are dooming your Pack, young one."** His echoing voice resounding through her ears, drowning out even the water below. **"They need you."**

"If they needed me," Bella paused her statement to climb over a fallen branch the size of a small tree, grunting lightly with her efforts. "Then they wouldn't have abandoned me. I chose, they didn't."

" **How do you know, Daughter?"** The chiding voice was stern. **"Have you asked them?"**

"It should have been obvious- Great One." Bella replied to the air, anyone seeing her would have thought she was crazy. "I've been _here_. I came back, I tried to become an asset in the only way I knew how- I helped. I loved."

" **But did you do it knowingly? Or were you satisfying a hole in your very being you couldn't place?"** The Great Wolf almost laughed in her mind, a sort of gasping laugh that would come from the throat of a wolf.

"Does it matter?" Bella snapped as she finally saw the top of the cliff face.

" **It does to them."**

"Well, then this should truly show them my love for them- for this tribe. For a people that I never knew I needed." Bella's soft voice held so much sadness as tears threatened to spill from her dark brown eyes, she closed them and took a shudderingly deep breath. "I won't let them sacrifice themselves or get hurt for me- I am nothing special. This is their home, their land, their people. The wolves… Jacob, Sam, Paul, Embry, Jared… they deserve their home. They deserve to be safe."

" **So do you, Daughter."** The Great One suddenly appeared before her as she stood on the precipice of the cliff, his form shadowy and ethereal- but when Bella reached out to touch him- full solid. His tangibly intangibility an impossibility- yet she knew this to be just as real as that place of darkness and the Venom that lies within.

"You said all I had to do was call on the strength of the Pack, of my wolves, right?" Bella asked as she gently pet the nose and the great and ancient wolf in front of her. "To stop the Venom, all I needed was their strength, right?"

" **Yes, their strength will keep the Venom at bay- it cannot control something it cannot kill."** The Great One's eyes were filled with the same sadness in Bella's eyes- only centuries more of it. He had seen more heartbreak than she, yet he wore the grief well and it fueled his wisdom.

"Even till death?"

" **Until death and Beyond- dear Warrior."** The Great Wolf gave a whine, bumping his nose against the cold and fragile girl in front of him. **"You need not do this, Warrior, you truly can protect them in another way. A greater way."**

"What greater way than ensuring that their people are not needlessly slaughtered for the sake of a supposed soul-mate?" Bella replied idly as she walked forward from the trees, the wolf stepping in beside her, waiting. "They, the wolves, have done so much for me already. Whether they know it or not- they have. Ever since that night when I should have died in the forest. They saved my life- it is only right that I give it back to save theirs."

" **Your life has so much more meaning to it than this, Daughter!"** The wolf had stopped the gentle approach now, his voice rough and grating as it rose in volume to what _should_ have hurt. It tilted its great nose to the sky and gave a long and lamenting howl to the grey sky, a storm quickly approaching. The waves became choppier below, their retreating mass like welcoming tendrils that called to Bella as she watched them reach forward and pull away. **"Think of your connection to the Pack- of their ability to come to you in the In Between where your very** _ **Spirit**_ **lies! That is not achievable without great sacrifice on all sides. You cannot say now that you truly believe they don't want you- they don't need you. Your wolf needs you, would die for you,** _ **will**_ **die without you."**

"My wolf…" Bella's laugh was cynical and harsh, such a rough sound to come from so small a woman. "If he truly wanted me… if he was truly _mine_ … he would have _tried._ He would have…" Bella began to sob as she knelt on the edge of the cliff, about four inches between her knees and the opening to the great dark water below. "He wouldn't have abandoned me. He wouldn't… He wouldn't…"

Her shaking body was so wracked with pain that the Great One nuzzled her shoulder with his snout in a rare show of affection from the ancient one. She looked at him and clutched his head in a great hug, warmth and the feeling of home spread through her for a moment before she gathered the strength to stand. The wolf followed her with his eyes as she backed up a few steps and removed her hoodie, laying it gently on the grass.

"I wouldn't be alone, if he was _my_ wolf." Was the last thing Bella said before she launched herself forward, the Great One did nothing more than lower his head with a piteous whining cry before he disappeared. "Goodbye, wolves. I love all of you."

With the final step, just as she proclaimed her love to the wolves she was now dying to protect- Bella jumped from the cliff. The last sound she heard above the roaring of the water below and the air rushing past was the sound of multiple tormented howls- a haunting melody to add to the already macabre moment.

And then her body hit the tumultuous surf, and Bella quit fighting.

She had chosen their lives, in place of hers.

And it felt _right_ , even as her air ran out.

* * *

 _A/N: Yes, I know, I am so evil right now. I get it (and will probably get a few not-so-happy PMs about how I left this chapter)! I love all of my readers and I am sorry for how I am choosing to leave this right now- but this is the best place to leave off for many reasons._

 _Thank you to all of my readers, reviewers, and messengers! You all are amazing and make writing (though I do it for myself, really) so interesting with your views and opinions. I am truly blessed to have you guys!_

 _Love you all of you, from author to reader!_


	26. His Swan

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

Sam and the rest of the Pack were pacing his house waiting for the elders to arrive. They had been awake all night, unable to sleep from the tightness in their chests. The only one who had managed to relax at _all_ since the day prior was Jake, and that only because the Council had specifically ordered Sam to not allow the newest wolf to even _look_ at Bella- let alone in the girl's eyes to create the imprint everyone knew was coming.

The Keeper had told them that she was the imprint of _all_ wolves, not just Paul. That her mark would have to be redone with _every new pack member_. She would have to endure the pain of Paul's teeth and the blood of the Pack again and again.

She would have to endure… for them.

Just after sunrise the Council arrived at the house, with Old Quil holding a proxy vote for the widow Akil as she was feeling under the weather and was on bed rest.

"What have you called us here for, Protectors? The Council made their decision regarding the topic of the so-called imprint Bella Swan." Old Quil said with a sneer, making Paul growl low in his throat. The older native rounded on the young wolf. "You should be glad we have not decided to banish the girl! She is a pale-face with no true connection to this Tribe or its land!"

"Her connection lies within _us._ " Sam Uley said, the final word resonating with his Alpha voice unintentionally. "She is Pack; she is part of us."

"That aside, however, Councilmember Quil is correct- the Council made their decision on the subject of Bella and her acceptance to this Pack and Tribe." Billy said in a somber voice- he had not agreed with the decision at all but even a Chief had to learn to pick his battles where he had to. "Until she chooses the Pack and comes to the realization _on her own_ she is not part of this Pack, Tribe, or land."

"Yet you let her come and volunteer, still allow her to work with Tiffany Call, even pretend to entreat with her? She has been to your _house_ , Billy Black. She has broken bread with you- you have made small talk over the dinner table with her all while hiding your own _son_ from her for fear of a possible imprint. You fear her so strongly that you fear a bond that could _strengthen_ this Pack!" Sam's growl was close to feral, but his body refused to shake. Angry as he was the wolf stayed put, docile for the moment because it knew that only the man could try to convince the Council of Bella's importance to his Pack.

"Arguing a decided point is futile, Alpha. Be glad we respect your control over this Pack enough not to challenge you- to bind you to your Tribe and land in a permanent manner. The Council has that ability, in case you managed to forget that." Old Quil snarled in a completely human way, making the wolves laugh at his attempt at dominance of the situation. "A pale face girl who has run with leeches is nothing to this Pack- I would think that you would have given up by now, she isn't going to choose _you._ "

Paul stood and snarled, forcing Sam to have to literally hold his Pack brother back from attacking the Council. He was glaring daggers and his eyes has widened and become darker, glowing slightly with anger. The eyes of a wolf.

"If that is your final word on the matter then I suggest you leave, Councilmembers. We have nothing more to say to you." Sam ground out through his clenched jaw, straining under the effort to hold the pissed off wolf back. Jared stepped forward to help- a welcome sight due to the near loss of control. "Unless you _want_ to see the destruction of a wolf denied his imprint."

Harry Clearwater had the good sense to look ashamed as he couldn't meet the eyes of the Protectors, any of them. Joshua could only meet his son's with an apologetic sympathy in his eyes, something the younger Uley did not care to see. Billy nodded gently to Sam in silence, not forcing the Pack to have to endure another 'patience is key' lecture from their Chief. He looked to Jacob who nodded back and strode forward to take his father home, Billy had Jacob drive his car the day before so that they could spend the morning together.

Only Old Quil remained steadfast for a beat longer than the rest of the Council- neither shame nor apologetics in his features. He sneered one more time at Paul directly before turning his heel and walking away, awaiting his ride back to his own house with Harry Clearwater.

"Paul, go to the woods. Find a tree- don't destroy my house." Was the only request Sam made before he pushed the nearly insane man towards the tree line. Paul went with Jared following.

* * *

Billy and Jake did not say anything to each other until their own house came into view, the intensity in the air a palpable thing- Jake could literally almost taste it.

"I know that it means nothing from me, but I am doing what I think is best." Billy said finally, looking at their red house with a sadness in his eyes. Jacob hadn't been home for more than a day at most in the last weeks. "Bella is a good girl; I love her very much like my own daughters… But-"

"But suddenly she's not good enough because she's kind?" Jake spat at his father, with a light shudder and growl. "Because she did exactly like her father and saw the person _underneath_ the monster? Because she has a heart larger than the ocean?"

"Because she is a danger to the Pack if they come back. If she chooses Pack now but then turns and runs back to them, she could give them everything they need to destroy us." Billy replied quietly, knowing his son's anger would dissipate eventually. Jake had never been able to hold a grudge well.

Jake parked the car and got out, slamming his door in the process. The car shook with the action, the window almost shattering into thousands of pieces- Billy was rather surprised it hadn't. The young wolf walked around the car and got his father's wheelchair before unceremoniously pulling his father out of the Rabbit and getting him in the chair. He stalked towards the porch at a quick gait, one that sped up when a rather familiar, and almost welcome, scent hit his nose.

Bella had been here. _Recently._

Running up the porch Jake followed his nose to where the scent was the strongest- the drop box that everyone used when Billy wasn't home. Inside there were three letters, all of them smelled completely of Bella, all of them with names written on them. Billy called out to his son from the yard where he had barely moved- Jake ignored him as he opened his letter from Bella.

The beautifully feminine script inside almost shattered his heart as he read.

 _Jake,_

 _I know that when you get this you will probably already be upset- and I am so very sorry to make that feeling worse. Know that I love you, wholly and completely, just not in the way you wanted me to love you._

 _You are my brother, my friend, a great companion._

 _Or, rather, you_ _ **were**_ _. Before Sam, before your disappearing act. Before you left me and Quil to wonder what we had done wrong._

 _Before you became a wolf._

 _Yes, I know. I've known for a while, I think, but I just wasn't able to see the animal inside the little Jake that I had known. Or maybe I didn't want to see it. Didn't want to think of the legends and the possibilities- of what you were or had become._

 _But after yesterday- seeing all of you, it became so much more solid for me. You_ _ **are**_ _wolves, and I must say all of you are very beautiful- I apologize for the 'girly' wording, but beautiful is what I've got._

 _Know that I love all of you, Jake. And please remember that when this is over. But something has changed and I have to now make a decision that I couldn't keep you in the loop about- welcome to my world by the way._

 _There is a vampire coming, a single nomad. She has fiery red hair and is grief stricken, angry, and out for revenge. Edward killed her mate last spring, in Phoenix- and she feels it is only fair to kill mate for mate. She apparently doesn't realize that I'm not Edward's mate I guess… I'm not going to allow her to endanger this entire reservation, and you, by coming for me._

 _I'm sorry, Jake. I really am._

 _Love, Bella_

Jake looked up with tears stinging his eyes, he had long since dropped the other two letters; labeled 'Sam' and 'Billy.' He looked at his father with a rage the older native had never seen before, his body shuddering so much that he wasn't sure what Jake had read- but he didn't think he ever wanted to see it.

Jake leaned forward, his jaw so strained from the energy it was taking him to keep his human form, and spoke a single sentence to his father.

"I will never forgive you if we're too late."

And with that he dropped his own letter, scooping Sam's up and throwing it into the air before phasing. He caught the envelope in gently closed jaws as he ran back through the woods to Sam's house- to where the Pack was calling him. He would need them- and he could feel that no one else was phased in, so he had to run.

Billy wheeled up to the porch and picked up the discarded letter for him, a thick envelope that was larger than the other two had been, and also picked up Jake's letter- his eyes flying to the last sentence on the page, written in shaky but beautiful handwriting.

 _P.S; Isn't it a good day for a dive?_

Billy held his chair so tightly his hand began to hurt. Great Spirits- what had he done?

* * *

Jake burst through the trees to Sam's backyard naked, having phased on the jump- the letter still in his now human mouth. All sets of eyes rounded on him, and the panic in his features. Sam ran forward to meet Jake- taking the letter from him in a flash upon seeing his name. He ripped it open and read quickly as Jake crashed to his knees in tears. Jared and Paul came to read over his shoulder.

 _Sam, and Pack- I guess,_

 _I know._

 _I thank you for saving me from Laurent yesterday- I just hope that none of you were too badly hurt in the fight. I know that vampires can be fast, and I know just how badly they can hurt._

 _Trust me- I want to save you from that._

 _That being said, I must say I am honestly_ _ **angry**_ _with you right now. What more could I have done to be worthy? What more did I have to do to be accepted? Was it the fact I am not native? Was it my association with the Cullens? Was it just_ _ **me**_ _?_

 _I don't care why- I really don't. You abandoned me everywhere but in my dreams- saving me from the Venom within me. I don't know how you have, but all of you have. And for that I thank you._

 _And in exchange I am giving you my life._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Bella_

 _P.S Make sure I make the news, make sure they say my_ _ **name**_ _. Show my picture. Victoria won't stop until I am dead and gone, I'm just making it easier._

As Paul finished reading, a fraction of a second before Sam and Jared, he backed away and with a tortured yell that turned into a howl he phased.

Jared was next, with Sam. The shreds of their shorts littering the yard, the letter fluttering to the ground like a feather. Jacob phased in his position, curled and crying.

 **Jake:** _I think I know where she is._

* * *

The wolves ran, all of them feeling as though they were trying to run through syrup, their movements felt slow and heavy, weighed down by the knowledge from the tug in their chests that they may already be too late.

Suddenly a mournful howl split the air, one they did not recognize but all felt the call to follow- their strength was renewed in that moment and the feeling of sluggishness passed as the howling drifted through their ears and other their fur.

Cresting the tree line opposite the diving cliff, above the road and view of any humans who would be passing, the wolves lines the road as they saw her. She was kneeling near the edge, shaking with what was obviously body wracking sobs. She was holding herself together with her arms, the noise of her heartbreak floating to the wolves on the wind.

What surprised them, however, was the almost see through wolf next to her. He was enormous- bigger even than Sam- and had brown fur, greying at the muzzle. He was the wolf from the fire, the one the Keeper had called Taha Aki.

 _Bella was with Taha Aki_.

To the wolves, there was no more proof they needed that the girl was Pack. The original Spirit Protector, the first Wolf, had already blessed her with his presence. He had given her his blessing in front of the Council as well, but they had turned a blind eye and an even deafer heart to him.

" _I wouldn't be alone, if he was_ _ **my**_ _wolf."_ Bella's words drifted to them as they saw her stand and step away from the edge. Jacob relaxed a moment, followed by Embry, thinking that the girl was going to be smart and _not_ jump into the raging pre-storm waters. Their relaxation was cut short, however, when Bella ran forward, and with a jump said the words that would break their hearts into a thousand pieces each. _"Goodbye, wolves. I love all of you."_

Her body soared towards the roaring near maelstrom of ocean waves. Paul launched himself from the top of the cliff, not even phasing back to human, he jumped over the empty road and fell towards the water- phasing only once he was close. The other wolves took off at a run towards the beach, Embry making a mental note to pick an extra pair of shorts for their soon to be exposed brother.

They all hoped Paul would reach her in time, or at all.

Paul began swimming the moment his body broke the water's surface, desperately trying to get to the quickly fading life-force that was Bella Swan.

His mate, his imprint. His Swan.

* * *

 _A/N: I promise that I_ ** _will_** _be addressing whether or not Bella is alive next chapter! I am sorry for this, I really am, but for it to flow correctly I really needed to split this one and the next from each other!_

 _I am truly sorry for the small cliff hanger- I am almost done with 27- it should be up in a few hours at most!_

 _Love to all of my readers and reviewers!_


	27. The Failure of a Chief

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

Paul's heart began to beat faster than it ever had as he swam against the currents and waves, hoping beyond anything to find that flickering light in the darkness. She was fading, and fast. He wondered in the back of his terrified mind whether or not she'd possibly hit the rocks when she was drug under the waves.

 _You can't leave me, little Swan. Not when I've barely gotten to hold you. Not when I've died inside every day waiting for you to realize, to see._ Paul thought to himself as he dove under the water again. He was glad for not only his wolf sight but also his strength and stamina- he would need all of them to get her from beneath the waves.

Dragging himself downward with powerful thrust of his arms and legs, Paul found her. She was limp in the water, halfway between sinking and floating. She looked almost identical to a leech, pale and cold in the water.

He grasped her wrist and pulled her limp body to him, holding her and her fading life as close as he could to his body as he surged them to the surface.

Greedily gulping air as they reached the surface he began to swim towards the beach, not surprised to see his brothers running from the woods towards the water. Paul growled to himself as her light flickered again against his chest. She was like a candle desperately trying to stay alight in the rain.

He was within a hundred yards or so of the beach when Sam and the boys hit the edge of the water, Sam diving forward and using his Alpha to infuse his own strength into Paul- who was actually beginning to tire from the fear and impending loss of his imprint.

Sam reached the two as Paul continued to fight forward, and he wrapped an arm around Bella as well. Both wolves began to swim in tandem together, pushing toward shore.

"Sam!" Jacob called out, stepping into the water up to where it touched his shorts. Jared followed, standing anxiously in the two feet of water as it rose and fell around his knees. "Paul!"

The two wolves finally made it close enough to shore for Jared and Jacob to carefully extract Bella from their locked arms, earning them a growl from a very naked Paul. Jared held up the shorts that had been in his back pocket, Paul wrenched them from his Pack brother's hand and stood- walking out of the water naked to put them on. Thankfully with the storm coming the beaches were deserted, empty and safe for such things.

Jake had laid Bella on the sandy ground, Paul keened a pitiful lupine whine that should never have been made, let alone heard. Her light was so dim- he could barely see her.

"Jake, she's not breathing!" Paul said as he leaned forward over her. "Sam, do you remember your CPR?"

"Of course I do." Sam said as he knelt the opposite side of Bella and began to press his hands downward on her lower chest, the compressions. "Breathe when I tell you to, Paul!" The compressions seemed to last forever, but in reality it was seconds. "Breathe!" Paul leaned down and pressed his lips to Bella's with bittersweet feelings.

He had never imagined placing his lips against hers in such a way, and certainly not _now._

Paul breathed for Bella, no response. Sam began the compressions again, yelling at Paul to breathe once more. Paul, crying openly now, pressed his mouth to Bella's once more. Nothing.

"One more time, Paul." Sam said as he continued the compressions, focusing on pressing vitality into the pale woman before him as he did so. "Focus, Paul. _Want_ her to heal." Sam continued the compressions for another second again. "Breathe, Paul! One more time."

Paul threw every thought he could to the Spirits, his wishes and wants- the love he had for the woman he was so desperately trying to save. He _needed_ Bella, he had been dying without her- and he knew he would die if she did.

He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, breathing air into her lungs one last time.

Sam continued giving compressions as Paul took his mouth from Bella's.

* * *

Billy Black had called Joshua Uley to come to his house _immediately_ and **without** the other Council members. Joshua knew that this instantly meant Pack business and he rushed from his office- part of the tourism and planning for the Tribe, the perks of being charismatic and good with people he supposed.

Speeding through the reservation, although not fast enough to attract attention of too many people, Joshua's heart nearly stopped when he heard the punch-to-the-gut heartbreaking howls that echoed through the air. Something was wrong, completely and irrefutably _wrong._

Peeling into the Black's driveway fast enough to kick up one hell of a dust cloud, and with no regrets about it, Joshua found himself hurtling from the car not even seconds after he had put it in park. He actually had to lean back in to turn it off.

"Billy!" Joshua called as he ran to the house, noticing the large paw prints not even feet from the front of the porch. Someone had phased here recently, that was reckless. "What did you need to see me about?"

Billy had wheeled himself inside after reading the letter to Jake three times over, he had waited for support before even daring to open the letter addressed to him. There felt to be a second letter inside and if Billy's gut was right- it was for Charlie. Bella would trust Billy with that.

"This is why." Billy held out what looked like a letter as he took another drink from the amber colored liquid in the glass before him, the bottle sat off to the side. Joshua stared wide eyed at his tribal Chief- Billy was drinking stronger than beer. Joshua couldn't stop himself before he said something.

"That is a minimum of 21 years old there, Billy, and most certainly cost a pretty penny when bought. What's the occasion?" The younger man stepped forward before reaching out to take the letter.

"Murder." Was Billy's only response as Joshua began to read the letter Bella had written Jacob. His eyes shot up to his Chief's as he got to the end, his usually dark face paling.

"They got to her, right?"

"I don't know." Billy said, pouring the other man a glass as well and gesturing for him to sit. "But she wrote me a letter too."

"Spirits." Joshua nearly threw the entire glass of scotch back but thought better of it in the last moment. "Have you read it?"

"No. I… I needed support, and with my son gone and mad at me…" Billy's eyes looked haunted, the idea of killing a woman he thought of as a daughter weighing heard on his head and heart. "I felt having support was better."

Joshua sighed. So they would feel this, whatever it was, together. He nodded and did knock the rest of the drink back into his throat, holding his hand out for more as he looked at the unopened but labeled letter on the table.

"I'll get it." Joshua reached out for the thin paper and carefully opened it while Billy refilled both of their glasses. Once the envelope was opened he pulled out two things, another envelope this one labeled 'Charlie' and a letter. It was written in beautiful but shaky script, and with as much strength as he could muster, Joshua began to read aloud.

 _Billy,_

 _I know that you know about your son. Being chief you have probably known this entire time- haven't you? You knew about the Cullens and their ways, knew about the wolves and the legends. You knew and I ignored your warnings once. For that I am truly sorry- because I have managed to place your entire tribe in terrible danger._

 _To begin at the beginning, I will have to tell you what_ _ **really**_ _happened in Phoenix last Spring- when I ran away from Charlie after a 'rough night' with Edward. I wasn't running away from Charlie, or Forks, or even here- I was running from a nomad vampire. His name was James and he had caught my scent and was apparently_ _ **fascinated**_ _by it and me. He wanted me, no matter how many died in the process._

 _The Cullens tried to hide me in Phoenix, away from the safety of cloud cover and where they didn't think he would look. James followed and through tricks he managed to get me alone. I was broken and beaten by him before Edward managed to get to us- James bit me to make him suffer. I can't really remember what happened beyond James dying and the venom being sucked out of me._

 _When we returned here, Edward and I tried to have a normal relationship- I tried my best to be good enough for him and still failed. But I didn't fail_ _ **him**_ **.** _I failed myself, my father, my friends, and eventually my Pack._

 _When Edward finally decided he had played with his human enough- he took me to the woods to leave me, to break things off. I fought him about it and angered him. I'm sure that you know what comes next- knowing the Cold Ones like you obviously must. I should have died, or worse turned. But I did not._

 _I do not know how, but I know it involved the Wolves. My Pack. They saved me, and have been with me ever since- in my dreams and in my mind. I can hear them sometimes, whispers in the dark. And I know that sounds crazy- but so does the idea of vampires and werewolves even being_ _ **real**_ _so which one of us needs a good hard drink yet?_

 _Don't forget that bottle of The Balvenie that Charlie and I bought you as a present, for hard times. Charlie made sure it was one hell of an aged scotch- just like you used to drink apparently._

 _Edward is gone. Except the consequences of Phoenix remain. James had a mate, a woman with fiery red hair named Victoria. She is coming here and will, I'm sure, so no more mercy than James would have to anyone who hides me- she wants an eye for an eye, mate for mate._

 _Whether or not I'm Edward's mate, it seems._

 _I refuse to allow your son, my Jake, or any of the other wolves to have to fight for me- someone not even of the Tribe, not of the Pack._

 _I have felt a constant pull to them ever since September, and aside from when Paul knocked me out in December I have seen_ _ **nothing**_ _of them since. I thought it was because of the fact I'm not Quileute, so I decided to invest in their home. They still didn't come. I decided to help more by picking up more shifts with Tiffany so she could spend what little time she even gets with her son outside of work- still they didn't come._

 _First a vampire rejects me, and now the wolves do as well. And I can't figure out why. I can't explain it Billy, but the longer this goes on the worse it is going to hurt me- I am breaking apart piece by piece and I can't take them in my dreams any longer. They deserve to be free, and they deserve to be safe._

 _So I have decided something, I will exchange the life they gave me for their own and the lives of their home. I am giving that life back so that theirs can continue._

 _Make sure Charlie gets his letter- though I left out many details. He deserves to know as close to the truth as I can say- but it's still not my secret to tell._

 _The wolves will go with me to my grave, just as the Cold Ones._

 _Love,_

 _Bella_

 _P.S; Please don't hide my death in the media- Victoria needs to see it, to know that I am already gone, and that her revenge is all for nothing now._

Joshua could barely make it through the letter, stopping in multiple places to catch his breath and stop the tears that were now falling in silence down his face. This girl, this Bella, she was so much more than she thought- and she was willingly giving herself up for a Tribe that she felt had abandoned her- for a Pack she felt had _rejected_ her.

She had proven herself a thousand times over, not that she ever should have had to in the first place.

Joshua and Billy sat there in silence, unsure if there was anything either man could say. Bella had known, for how long neither knew, but she had _known._ She had felt the pull of the multiple imprint and had fought against it, broken herself daily, and all the while wondered what _she_ had done wrong when in reality it was them- the Council.

The Tribe had failed her, even after she had become a Quileute through imprint and marriage- she was still cast out, brushed aside. Old Quil and even Harry Clearwater, a friend of Charlie's for _years_ , had made it damn near impossible for Bella to live up to whatever proving they were asking of her!

"I didn't forget the Balvenie." Billy whispered brokenly before he burst into body heaving sobs.

If the wolves failed, if Bella died, Billy knew that this would haunt him until his Spirit passed on, and perhaps after. Even if she survived, he would still be haunted by the ghost of his inaction, his indecision.

He could have stopped the Council- the Chief can override, and he didn't.

He had failed.

* * *

Bella coughed. Water came forth with the air, but she coughed. Her eyes fluttered. She gasped inward after coughing more water.

All of the boys let out a breath that they hadn't realized they were holding, their bodies relaxing minutely. Paul was the first to move after Bella's first breath.

He reached forward and lifted her gently, so gently, into his arms with a tearing sob from his chest. Bella was _alive._ He was going to kill her, but for right now she was _alive._ She was in his arms, gasping air and breathing. He continued to cry there on the beach, soaking wet, holding his imprint, and surrounded by his Pack.

The air began to swirl around them as the wind picked up, a shiver from Bella telling the wolves that the woman needed to get inside and warm, and she needed it _now_. Paul stood in a single fluid motion, lifting Bella in the process. He held her close to his body, her stuttering and raw breaths shallow against his chest.

She was alive, but he wasn't sure she was conscious.

"We need Sue." He said suddenly, the first sound to come from his throat other than sobs since he asked Sam about CPR. His voice sounded as raw and worked over as Bella looked. When no one responded, he stopped and looked at them. "Sam? We need Sue."

At Paul saying his name, Sam was snapped out of his thoughts- calming himself in the face of possibly losing Bella. It wasn't the same as the idea of losing Emily- but it still had left one hell of a hole in his chest all the same. He nodded to Paul and looked to Embry.

"You know them best, can you?" Sam asked in a quiet tone, trying not to use his Alpha command. He wanted to come down from the high, from the rush and the pain. He wasn't used to being able to feel this _much_ of everything- he would have to ask the Keeper what was going on with him and his Alpha.

"Yup," Embry popped the "p" noise a little as he started to jog ahead of them, he knew that Sue would be at work by now and the clinic was further away than their house- so he was running ahead. She would have to take time (hopefully) to come and see them. And if not her, possibly Dr. Whitehawk.

As Embry ran on ahead Sam assessed the situation. They needed to get Bella warm and dry _fast_ but on their two feet weren't going to be able to run as fast as they could if they were on four paws. Paul was unlikely to let go of her for a long, _long_ , time right now- so trying to get him to allow her to ride with Jared or even Jacob holding would be impossible. And neither of them, even at their size, would be able to comfortably carry Paul as he held his imprint.

He could, though.

"We're going to do this just like before, when we ran to the Keeper." Sam said with an assured lilt in his voice. "Jacob, Jared, phase first and run to Emily- tell her we need warm water bottles and some clothes of hers- Bella looks to be around the same size if not smaller." He looked to Paul, who was eyeing him in an almost paranoid way. "I'm not going to take Bella from you, Paul. You're going to sit with her on my back- I can carry both of you comfortably in my wolf form."

Paul nodded, followed quickly by Jacob and Jared who ran off to phase inside the treeline. Paul and Sam were alone then, alone with Bella.

"I can't do this, Sam." Paul said as they quickened their strides, the need to get Bella safe overriding their want to look 'normal.' "I almost _lost_ her, Sam. She was almost taken from before I was even 'allowed' to _have_ her."

The growling sneer that Paul put to the word 'allowed' did not escape Sam- neither did the emotions behind it. The older man agreed- the Council had gone too far this time, and for what? What were they truly afraid of? Was it Old Quil and his need for 'pure' bloodlines? He'd been the most fired up over the decision to even give the girl a _test_ to prove herself- shutting down every attempt the Pack made to show her proving. They had tried over the course of the last few weeks, tried to show that she had been investing herself to the Tribe, to the Pack, but he would hear none of it.

"We will be speaking with the Council once Bella is awake and up for it. She deserves to be involved in this- especially with everything we've already taken from her." Sam replied blandly, trying not to rile Paul up while he held _both_ of their imprints in his arms.

That was a concept Sam had yet to reconcile. He didn't _want_ Bella sexually- but she was his imprint either way. It wasn't as strong as Emily- there was nowhere near the same mating need or pull, but it was there. He wanted her in his life, by his side, to have and to protect. But it was such a _fatherly_ feeling- he loved her like kin, like a daughter.

And with those feelings came the ever present fear that the most volatile wolf in his pack would manage to hurt her. Paul would hurt himself just as much, Sam knew this from experience, but if he ever _did_ manage to phase too close to Bella and hurt her… Sam wasn't sure what the Pack would do, especially if it got any bigger than it was now. The more wolves tied to Bella the stronger the Pack, or so the Keeper had told him.

But that also meant the greater the shattering should anything happen to her.

The Council could easily destroy the Pack, especially as it grew, if they denied access or completely cut the Pack off from her. He wasn't sure if the Pack even _now_ could survive that.

Today had shaken him to his very core, and it was barely noon. The only thing he was glad of was that it was a Sunday, and Forks High had called school off the following day due to a pipe break or something. He remembered it only because Paul had growled on Friday about it- he wouldn't be able to watch Bella at school if there _was_ no school.

Just inside the tree line, Sam looked to Paul and nodded before he stripped himself of his shorts and shifted. Paul climbed up with the inherent grace that came with supernatural powers, the two spirits, and got himself comfortable, holding Bella in a seated position before him. He cemented her back to his chest before he leaned down.

"Run, Sam." And with that, Sam took off like a gunshot through the trees. His movements were liquid and stable, Paul could have described it as riding a horse- only without the saddle and less rough. He leaned his head down to Bella's ear, his imprint still not fully conscious but breathing on her own and her heartbeat had come up to normal. "Don't leave me, Little Swan. Fly with me, not away from me- I wouldn't survive it."

* * *

 _A/N: Yes! I did finally let you all know whether or not Bella had survived, and I promise I will honestly **try** not to have a 2 part cliff hanger in the future but there really was no other good way to show both sides of the story without doing it this way, but now that **that's** over- onward to bigger and better plot parts! Like I said- this is looking like it will be around 50 or so chapters really- and that's even **if** I make them all longer. _

_Thank you to all of my readers who stuck through the cliff hangers and still love, or at least not want to murder, me!_


	28. Can You Feel This

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

Sam ran straight to the side of his cabin, thankful yet again for how the house was set almost into the woods completely. It was kind of like Paul's in a way, where the younger wolf's back door was pretty much in them it was the side for Sam.

Paul pulled Bella closer to him as he dismounted from Sam, the older native shifting almost immediately. He took the shorts Paul offered and the two set off towards the front of the cabin where Emily stood with towels and what looked like coffee for both men. Her eyes were empathetic and soft, something Sam was used to seeing but shocked Paul for some reason.

Was this what a life with Bella could be like? A loving, hopefully firecracker, woman waiting for him to come back? A life with an equal partner- where they pushed and pulled at each other like the moon to the waves? Yin and Yang, so to speak. Could the woman in his arms truly do for him what Emily had done for Sam?

Paul hoped so, but he also knew that Bella would have to _accept_ him. She had chosen the Pack to be sure, but had she chosen _him_?

"Come on, little Swan. It's time to get you warm and dry, and then you can keep resting." Paul had lowered his head again, brushing his lips against the soft skin directly beneath her ear. He placed a single yearning kiss there and clutched her closer as Emily wrapper her with a towel.

"My wolf…" Bella whispered almost incoherently. Her voice was fevered, her eyes barely tracking as she tried to flutter them open to look at who was carrying her. She was nodding in and out, but her light as burning brighter, she was coming back to him.

"Hush," Paul shushed his mate gently, as he carried her to a spare bedroom in Sam and Emily's cozy house. The Pack made to follow but he growled, reaching a hand out for the clothes Emily had grabbed from the kitchen table. "We'll be out in a minute."

Emily went to disagree, worried what Bella would think of a man she barely knew undressing her but Sam placed his hand on her shoulder- a single look from mate to mate told Emily to leave it alone. This was something Paul _needed._ He wasn't going to ravage her while she was unconscious, he may be a complete asshole but he wasn't a rapist.

Placing the towels on the bed to cover the rather beautiful comforter set, Paul was as soft as clouds laying Bella on them- he didn't want to jostle her too much. Over the salt of the sea he could smell something coppery and warm- the scent of blood. Bella's blood. It was mixed with his own scent, as it would be for the rest of her life, but her scent was still there. Spices, honey, almost floral in a way. So very raw, natural. Just Bella.

He started by gently stripping off her two layers of shirts- a long sleeve deep purple top and a lighter purple camisole underneath. He would have called it a tank had there not been a soft lace trim on the bottom. And if Paul knew anything better than the game of seduction it was women's clothes, the second shirt was a camisole not a generic tank. Her skin was dead while and so cold, his heart began to race as he looked at just how cold she had actually become- her lips were the same pale color as the rest of her skin, the delicate pink gone.

"I don't care if you hate me, little Swan." Paul said as he moved slowly to the zipper of her now skin tight wet jeans. Once it was down he used his left arm to lift her hips while he peeled away that layer of her clothing as well, leaving Bella only in her bra and panties- he was surprised to see that they matched.

Following his nose and using his fingers gently, he looked for cuts or breaks. No bones were broken although there were some scrapes along her shoulders- and a small impact cut in the back of her hair. She had hit her head, and that wasn't a good thing. Carefully, slowly and gently, he used her already wet shirt to wipe away the blood. Sue or Dr. Whitehawk would clean them more, but for now he just wanted the blood gone- they were long since actively bleeding.

Once the cleanup was done he evaluated the situation with her underthings. They were still soaked, still freezing, and definitely needed to be removed. Paul steeling himself as he reached for her bra first, stopping himself when his fingers brushed the materiel.

"Not like this, little Swan."

Paul looked at the clothes Emily had handed him and smiled widely- she had given him one of his own shirts he had left here, back when he still attempted to wear shirts that is. It still smelled of him- she hadn't washed it, merely left it in his drawer. All the wolves had one here, a place to store shorts and other necessities.

He tugged the overly large shirt over her body, it rested against her skin beautifully. Working fast, Paul then stripped Bella of her bra from beneath the new layer of clothing, doing the same for her panties before he slipped the pair of bottoms on her- they were Emily's and looked to be nearly new. Paul smiled at the care Emily had taken, making sure to check is drawer for a shirt before grabbing one of her own.

"Someday, hopefully soon, you'll be in my bed wearing my clothes. But for now, this will do." Paul picked Bella up again, piling her wet towels and clothes in the clothes basket near the door. Emily was efficient had one in every bedroom, he had laughed at her femininity back then- but not now. Wrapping Bella in the supposedly decorative throw at the bottom of the bed- it was a faux fur blanket, the suede inside meant to simulate a hide on an animal. "Let's go see the Pack, little Swan. They need to see you."

Paul walked out of the bedroom and to the living area, where the Pack was pacing. Sam had taken the coffee Emily had offered, drinking both the cup that she had made for him as well as the one she had intended for Paul. It was just as well; Paul didn't feel the need to be any more keyed up than he already was.

"Has she awoken?" Sam asked gently, his eyes raking over the blanket clad bundle in Paul's arms. At the younger wolf's shaking head he sighed deeply. "Dr. Whitehawk should be here in a few minutes, Embry just called from the Clearwater house. Apparently he was called out to the Clearwater's house- Harry was having trouble breathing, and Sue had actually come home for lunch. A good thing, apparently- according to Embry."

"Harry going to make it?" Paul asked as she sat down on the couch, leaning his back against the arm and sliding down into a laying position. He shuffled Bella on top of him until she was using his chest as a pillow, her breath ghosting along his muscles. Paul then covered both of them with the blanket- his body heat included with the cover should warm her well and fast.

"Embry said yes, Sue had called Dr. Whitehawk there while Embry was with him. Looks like her coming home today saved the old man a heart attack." Sam's voice was tight. "Which is a good thing. One almost loss was enough, and now two. I don't know if I really could have handled losing Harry today after the stunt Bella pulled."

"I don't think I could either." Paul laid his head back and smiled.

Sam had custom built this couch after he, Jared, and Paul had put an addition onto the house in the back. None of them were under 6' 6" and they needed the space for a wolf to crash if needed. So they had built and upholstered 2 couches, both 7' long. Sam was the tallest at 6' 9- so it fit him laying down too. Paul got the second couch at his house- because it was the halfway point to Jared's place and the outer patrol run.

"Paul?" Jared's usually bubbly voice was soft, calm, and inquisitive. Paul made a questioning grunt noise and he continued talking. "I know you aren't going to let her go, but, I need to… can I please see her? Scent her?"

Jared was wringing his hands in front of him, his head down and turned away from Paul's- a sign of submission to the wolf who held the girl. Jared didn't have another imprint, like Sam did, but he knew that he needed, literally _needed_ to ensure that Bella was alright. Jared shuffled a little as Paul looked him over, before closing his eyes again.

"If you don't try to take her, you can." Paul replied. "Same for you Sam." Paul hesitated a moment, considering Jake. He wasn't imprinted to Bella, _yet_ if what the Keeper said was true. "Jake, if you need to be sure- just don't get too close, I can feel your stress from here."

"I won't hurt her, Paul." Jake growled a little, still not liking the idea of Paul and Bella together. He had been told that it would 'be different' once he imprinted- but Jake _loved_ Bella. Wanted Bella. And she was already _married_ to Paul, bound to him for life, and she hadn't even had a choice in it!

Paul growled in response but Sam stopped the fight before it could begin.

"We know you wouldn't, Jake. You will understand when you look in her eyes." Sam's commanding voice was soft but threatening- make both wolves know that the Alpha would _not_ allow a fight over Bella. Not now, not today, not _here._

Jared had walked closer to Bella and Paul- his movements slow and determined. With the stress everyone was under he didn't want to move too fast and set Paul off, not with him holding Bella. And Paul had such a short fuse on even a _good_ day.

He knelt next to the couch, keeping his eyes averted from Paul. Usually they weren't too worried about the dominance between the two of them- but Jared seemed to sense that, where Bella was concerned, it was needed today. Once he was kneeling, Jared gently peeled away the blanket and leaned in, smelling her hair and then bringing his face down to where her scent would be strongest- where her shoulder met neck.

He breathed deeply three times, the coppery blood smell muted now. It surprised him but he knew that Paul would have taken care of them. He stood and backed away, only to be replaced by Sam who did the same thing. Jake hesitated when Sam stepped away- but the pull of his wolf to scent the girl the man loved was too strong. He needed to make sure Bella was okay.

When Jake leaned in and smelled her he could literally smell her pain. He'd never been around such a thing- not having phased back when she was attacked before. The scent hit him hard, rocking his entire being to the very core. Bella was in _pain._ And the smell of it made it so real.

"That pain I can smell…" Jake started as he lay on the ground in front of the couch in silent gasps- a hole having been blown through his chest at the scent of Bella's blood and pain mixed.

"We smelled it too," Jared said softly, fighting his own silent but present tears. Jared had never been one for sadness so he was fighting the urge to cry hard- he didn't like this feeling at all.

"Can… Can you guys _feel_ it?" Jake was clutching his chest with one hand while the other reached up to stroke Bella's cheek, Paul almost growled but let the touch pass when Jake's hand fell back to his own body.

"We've felt her pain since September, Jake. It's part of imprinting." Sam said solemnly. "You'll know when you feel it."

"I don't think I want to. Just this hurts so badly." Jake curled himself into a ball and gave a lupine keen as he tried to ignore the pain in his chest. He had never thought that the concept of pain could be a scent, a breathable thing- something that could permeate him so completely.

"I'm not sure any of us will have a choice." Paul replied softly, recovering his mate now that the brothers in his presence had scented her. Embry would be along soon enough.

* * *

 _A/N: Yes, I made Paul an actual gentleman for half a second. I realize, completely out of his cannon cocky character but I couldn't imagine even an asshole like Paul (given what we learn from SM) wanting to invade a girl's privacy in such an intimate way without her consent. Rape is a big no-no kiddos! (And yes, I know that there are decent non-con stories around, doesn't mean I like the idea of rape at all!)_

 _Thank you to all of my readers and reviewers- I know that the story seems to keep slowing down from one moment to another, but this is another real big plot point for later and I couldn't easily split it all up and if I made it into one chapter it would be 10-16k in words. And that is just **long**. I hope you all have enjoyed these last chapters and I promise that, for now, there will be less drama and a little more lighthearted writing._


	29. Bound for Life

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

Dr. Whitehawk arrived shortly after Embry, who entered the cabin and immediately scented Bella- who still had not awoken. She had stirred, but not awoken. Her breathing was stabilizing, her heart strong, the heat had returned to her body- but she was still not conscious.

"What is going on Whitehawk?" Paul's strained voice was close to shaking, his body beginning the typical pre-phase vibrations from the stress. His imprint was in his arms, but she wasn't truly there- not awake, not responsive. Her warmth meant nothing when she wasn't actively giving it. Not that he wanted to let her go, and growled a little when Whitehawk went to move her.

"I have to see her, Paul. You can either give her to me or you can be ordered to let her go. But you for damn sure can quit the growling." Dr. Whitehawk's eyes narrowed as he stared down the wolf- not usually something that was recommended. Paul relented, however, and slid out from under Bella- leaving her on the couch alone. She looked like a child, so small compared to the couch itself.

"Paul?" Sam asked quietly while the doctor began to examine Bella, the wolf in question whipped his head around. "How about we leave Emily here and we _all_ go out and phase. We need it, I can feel it."

Paul looked from Bella to the doctor and then to Emily and back. Emily was safe, she wasn't male- and Dr. Whitehawk was always so gentle when it came to anyone. He didn't like the idea of leaving her, he really didn't, but Paul could also feel the literal _need_ to phase as well. It was a different feeling than usual, something that he wasn't used to. Nodding quickly, Paul headed for the door and opened it with a little too much speed, slamming the glass slider open.

Thankfully it didn't break.

"Come on, guys. Let's get some air." Sam said as he motioned for all the wolves to leave. Jake hesitated for a second or two longer than Jared or Embry- but he did eventually come. Sam thought for a moment about what would cause Jake to hesitate, but he decided against it. Instead he walked to his fiancé and gave a soft smile, and quick kiss. "I love you, Em. We will be back, okay?"

"I'll be here, Sam. I'm making lunch anyway…" Emily looked towards the unconcscious girl on her couch. "Should I prepare for more company? I know Harry wouldn't be able to make it… but, the rest of them? Old Quil, Billy… your father?"

Sam bristled a bit at the mention of the Council, he had forgotten them in the heat of the moment. He shook his head gently with a smile.

"No, Em. We'll tell them when _we_ are ready for them to know, not when they demand it. Besides, Jake said that Bella left him a note at their house- so I'm sure he knows by now." Sam replied and gave his imprint a deep and loving kiss, breaking it after a moment and walking out the door to his Pack.

Once outside he instantly walked into the trees only to be assaulted by the sight of his Pack at odds with each other, hackles and jowls raised their growls were otherworldly in their intensity. Sam instantly stripped himself of his shorts and phased to see what was going on.

 **Paul:** _How are you_ _ **defending**_ _him?! I don't care if he's your father, he is the_ _ **Chieftain**_ _he could have easily overruled the Council- he could have stopped this!_

 **Jake:** _He only has so much power, Paul!_ Jake's snarls were growing louder, his body coiling to attack his brother. _You don't understand what it takes to be Chief!_

 **Paul:** _Oh, and you fucking do?! You turned down_ _ **Alpha**_ _for fucks sake- you didn't even give the thought any consideration, just said nope- fuck that- and bailed on your birthright!_

 **Jake:** _I'm_ _ **sixteen**_ _, Sam is_ _ **twenty**_ _or close fucking to it! He's been Alpha now for almost a_ _ **year**_ _. I'm not ready and I don't want this! I already couldn't leave the Tribe for long- I had to return anyway. But now? Now I can't leave_ _ **at all**_ _. Not for college, not to see the world… not for_ _ **anything**_ _._

 **Jared:** _And you think any of us like being tied to here like bad dogs chained outside?!_

 **Embry:** _Jared…_ Embry burst out laughing in his mind, his wolf shaking and almost barking with the laughter on the outside as well. It took a few moments but the rest of the Pack began to laugh as well. _Really, man? Like you couldn't think of anything better than that?_

 **Jared:** _Not really- it's what I remember my mom doing to my dog when I was younger._

 **Sam:** _Now that things have calmed down a little how about we discuss what we need to before the doctor finishes with Bella?_

The Pack nodded and Sam began to show them his recent meetings with the Council, the ones outside the requested Pack meetings. He showed them the subtle things about the Councilmembers, the ticks and the way they spoke. It was different for them to be able to see into Sam's mind, he usually kept his thoughts locked down tight.

 **Paul:** _The problem isn't the Council._

 **Sam:** _What do you mean?_

 **Jared:** _Yea, are you_ _ **not**_ _seeing this shit?_

 **Paul:** _I am. But look at it- look at the two who keep instigating things, particularly recently. It's not the_ _ **Council**_ _as a whole. It's Old Quil and the widow Akil. Even Harry backed off recently- and I'm going to bet it's because Seth has started growing. He's going to have a wolf in his house soon- so he can't really be going against them so hard now can he?_

 **Jake:** _Harry was talking about that with dad a few days ago. Just showed up out of nowhere- I was sleeping and it woke me._

Jake showed the Pack the conversation between Harry and Billy- the regret Harry had for not saying anything before now. The memory wasn't as sharp as Sam's because Jake had been half asleep for part of it- so even though he _heard_ it, he hadn't understood it.

As Harry began to talk to Billy about the changes that Seth was going through, the height and the bulking, the memory faded.

 **Sam:** _We will have to watch Seth from now on- I don't have as much interaction with the Clearwaters so I didn't know that Seth would already be that far along. He's young, just barely 14._

 **Jake:** _Yea, but he's a happy kid. The longer he can stay that way the better._

 **Sam:** _A happy kid whose father almost died today. He'll be on edge for a while- we still need to watch him._

 **Paul:** _Agreed. But what about the Council?_

 **Sam:** _We need to speak to the Keeper, there must be something we can do._

 **Jared:** _But she only answers one question, and it has to be the_ _ **right**_ _question… and then when she does decide to answer it's in fucking riddles!_

 **Sam:** _That is a risk we will have to take- we can't go against the Council again, Old Quil is already going to have a field day with her being here without Council permission- screw the fact we_ _ **know**_ _she knows and chose us._

 **Jake:** _Sam, there's a car coming. It sounds an awful lot like your father's._

True enough, there was the sound of an engine coming up the road. It wasn't the Clearwater's van, or Old Quil's small truck. It had the distinct purr of being almost a sports car. Sam sighed into the link between wolves, it _was_ his father's car.

 **Sam:** _Let's go meet him- I don't want him inside with Bella._

 **Paul:** _Neither do I._

Paul growled a little with those words- he was going to be very sensitive of who was around Bella for a little while, she was his mate after all. Sam understood the feeling, especially since Bella _had_ tried to kill herself today. She may have been doing it for what she believed to be noble, as well as depressed, reasons- but that wouldn't stop Paul from being overbearing for a little while.

It came with dominance and the wolf. And Paul was nothing if not a dominant lover.

After the boys all shifted and dressed themselves in their shorts they took a few deep breaths together, catching themselves for just a moment, before they walked from the woods and lounged on the porch- the picture of imposing and raw male power. Paul walked past them, however, to check on Bella inside.

"I'm not done checking her yet, Paul." Dr. Whitehawk said as the tense wolf walked up next to him. "She is healthy, for the most part- her weight is down and I'm sure she hasn't been sleeping well just from looking at her. It's the bump on the back of her head I want to check out- why don't you go back out with Sam?"

"Call if anything is wrong." Paul mumbled before he walked back out and leaned against the closed doorframe. Joshua was still helping Billy out of the car, both men looked a little unstable. When the wind blew in their direction, Paul tensed further.

"Been drinking and driving, Uley?" Paul's eyes flashed as his shoulders squared, his entire body coiling. If they thought they were getting _anywhere_ near Bella in this state- they had another thing coming.

"Don't accuse a Councilmember and our Chief of breaking laws, Paul." Jake replied through his grit teeth.

"Smell the air, then." Paul growled out, but then Billy actually stumbled a bit in trying to wheel himself- an obvious picture that something wasn't right with the Chief. Joshua was walking a little slow, watching his feet closely- I distinctly different man than the usual cocky charmer.

All the wolves took a deep breath of the wafting breeze- with Paul and Sam being the most affected by the almost acrid smell of whisky on the air. Jake gasped at the fact his father could drink _anything_ at a time like this- let alone open the _only_ bottle in the house stronger than beer.

"I'm not too inebriated." Joshua said quietly as he decided to sit on the hood of his car. He was more leaning, but it was casual. "I had a couple."

"Smells like you two bathed in the bottle." Sam growled back before looking at his Chief. "Is there a reason for this visit when we have nearly lost one of our own?"

"That has not been decided yet, son." Joshua replied as calmly as he could. All wolves in attendance began to quiver- a sure sign of rising tempers. "You know Old Quil isn't going to accept the letter as proof- he's going to question how we know _when_ she wrote it, her state of mind to jump off a cliff, if she was a danger to the pack before her suicidal thoughts are worse- she dies you die, Paul."

"You think I don't _know_ that?!" Paul's voice was deep in his chest, an angry growl that reverberated through the air in a menacing way as he stepped forward. "Thanks to _your_ inaction against the rest of the Council I have been dying inside every damn _day_ since I marked her. Not to mention the already painful tug of the imprint."

"Which you fought initially." Joshua pointed out. "How many women did you have sex with while imprinted? Have you done _anything_ with Bella other than mark her? And against your Council you not only marked but bound her to you- you married her under tribal law."

"She wasn't conscious for that, though!" Jake almost whined.

Billy shook his head solemnly. "It doesn't matter. The law stands as it stands- it was meant for the Protectors of old, the ones who chose their mates or imprinted on women from other tribes. The marriage was upheld even if she wasn't consenting to it, to keep her with her wolf. To keep the strength of the Pack."

"So Bella has no say, she's tied to him for the rest of her _life_?!" Jake began to outright shake; Sam was close to ordering him to go run it off but he needed his whole Pack. "She can still deny the imprint, can't she?"

"No." Billy shook his head again. "An imprint can never fully _deny_ the bond- what they can, and have in the past, deny is a sexual or lover relationship with their wolf. But the wolf still needs her soul, they are still the perfect match."

"So she has no choice- she's Paul's forever?" It was so visible- the heartbreak and pain written on Jake's face. The other wolves could feel it through the Pack bond. Paul was the only one to bristle it off. "She's married and doesn't know it, tied to this land and doesn't know it…" Jake sank to his knees holding in sobs.

Sam walked forward and put a calm, reassuring, hand on Jake's shoulder. It helped, but not much.

"You haven't answered my question, why are you here?" Sam's quiet voice was almost venomous in tone. "Bella almost _died_ today, Harry Clearwater could have died today as well… One of your Councilmembers is in the hospital, Billy, did you know that?"

Billy gave a confused look; he hadn't known about Harry.

Before Billy could speak again it seemed that all hell broke loose. There was a feminine yell from inside at the same time as a slight thud, the sound of someone's body hitting the floor. The humans had not heard, but the wolves had. Paul had whipped around so fast while opening the door, the yell had been Emily.

Sam rushed into the door a fraction of a second after Paul, the scene in the room confusing and terrifying all at once.

Emily was clutching a dish towel in her hands, which were still wet, and she was gasping for air- surprise still written all over her face. Dr. Whitehawk was sitting on his rear on the floor of the living room, surprise painting his features as well.

Bella, however, was nowhere to be found.

* * *

 _A/N: I promise there will be an update later today! No long cliff hangers, ok? Promise!_


	30. Total Dominance

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

"Where is she?" Sam asked as he held Emily, having run over to her instantly. Her breathing began to calm in the arms of her imprint and fiancé. "Em, where did Bella go?"

"She ran upstairs, Sam." Dr. Whitehawk replied before Emily could get words out of her mouth. He was chuckling while sitting there on his butt. "She woke up, groaned out a small 'oh no!' and then punched me in the gut, which threw me back with some decent force before running. I would suggest that you send someone she knows upstairs- she's got a hell of a nice punch."

"Jake?" Sam called, the future Alpha walked in with a timid glance at his current Alpha. "Can you go try to get Bella to come downstairs?"

"How, Sam? You ordered me to not look at her, she's not going to trust me if I can't… if I can't look her in the eye." Jake was slightly defensive as he spoke, not really wanting to look Bella in the eye. If what the Keeper had told him- she would be lost to him truly in that moment.

Sam held his hand up and a feeling of power swept through the room. Sam had learned long ago, when he was accidentally giving out Alpha orders left and right, that he could lift them without saying anything out loud. He just had to put the intention into his mind and release it into the world- somewhat akin to what Pagans did, according to his beautiful fiancé.

The power left the air after a moment as Jake looked at his Alpha with a look of pure confusion. Sam just nodded at him and gestured towards the stairs, so taking a deep breath he walked to the stairs and began the climb. His heart was beating fast, his mind racing. If the Keeper was truly right, if her prediction that Bella was _all_ wolves imprint… Then she was his too, and when he looked into her eyes and imprinted- it would shatter everything he felt for her.

"Bella?" Jake called, following her scent through the upstairs. It led him to a hall closet that he knew Emily used to store linens, but he also knew there was a large area under the first shelf- too small for him but Bella would fit. "Honey?"

He heard the shuddering breath that came from crying and he sped up, pulling the door open gently and kneeling down to find Bella sitting in the back corner on the floor with her knees pulled to her chest. She was shaking, crying as silently as she could, with her head resting on her knees.

"Bella, you're okay." Jake's voice was soft as he hesitated to reach out to her. "Bella, honey, please… please look at me." Jake swallowed heavily, closing his eyes for a moment. "You're okay, we're at Sam's."

Bella's head snapped up and her eyes met his- and for the barest moment Jake tried to fight the pulling sensation in his chest. His wolf, and the imprint, won in the end. Slowly but surely the strings that he had held for her in his heart shifted- the romantic feelings and notions were replaced with a brotherly need to protect, to hold and stop the tears. He gasped at her, the pain in her eyes that was barely masking the anger that radiated from her as well.

"Bella, can you please come out?"

"Why? So I can be rejected again? So that you can _lie_ to me and send me on my way? I get it, Jake, I really do- I'm not welcome. No need to rub it in." Bella's tears intensified with the anger in her voice. Her next statement, however, was said in such a sad tone that it nearly broke his heart. "Why couldn't you just let me die, Jake?"

Jake instantly reached in and grabbed her out from the closet, she seemed to think about hitting him but pulled the idea back pretty quickly. Her tears came forth in torrents now, the pain seeping from her into her friend. He held her there, hearing the scuffle downstairs from when she asked him to let her die- he knew Paul was probably being held back by Sam, or both Jared and Embry. He savored this, just for a little while. Jake wanted her to need him for just a moment- just a little while longer- before the truth came out and she realized it was really _Paul_ she needed.

"Why, Jake? I was trying to help the Pack… I wanted Charlie, you, your father, Sue Clearwater… everyone. I wanted them to be safe." Bella leaned back and looked into Jake's eyes, hers still full of tears. "Please Jake, please let me die."

"No, Bells. I can't do that." Jake pulled her back into him, resting his chin on her head.

"Why?" Her voice was so broken, she was falling apart in his arms, she tried to hold herself together as best she could.

"Not my place to tell you, Bells." Jake stood as he talked, pulling Bella into his arms. She barely fought the idea of being carried- something she honestly hated. "Come on, everyone is downstairs- and they are so worried about you."

"I don't _want_ to see everyone. I want to go, Jake. I've seen all I need to know, _heard_ all I need to know. I chose, you guys rejected. Let me go." Bella snapped through her tears, Jake just smiled and shook his head. "What, Jake?"

"Nothing, Bells. It's just good to see that the ocean didn't manage to put out your fire."

"I'll put out your fire; you cocky asshole. Put. Me. Down." Bella ground this out through her teeth, narrowing her eyes. Jake finally set her down when he reached the bottom of the stairs, stepping back while she adjusted herself. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Bella. But you're not going anywhere." Jake leaned down with a smile.

"Watch me." Bella flipped herself away from Jake and began to walk out the door, only to walk directly into Sam and the rest of the Pack as they blocked her escape, standing just off the porch. "Let me pass, Sam. You win- okay? You've taken Embry from Jacob, then both of them from Quil. You told me that I was welcome and then made it completely clear that I wasn't." She took a breath and looked down. "I kept my thoughts to myself- the secret I knew in my heart. I remember the darkness; I dream of it almost nightly."

She was still looking at the floorboards of the porch when Paul spoke, he stepped forward towards her- his chest felt like there was a gaping hole in it. He needed to hold her, to tell her the truth- to let her know everything, but he also knew that she wasn't ready for all of that.

"Sweetheart," Paul's voice came out more confident and cocky than he had meant it, he flinched a little as he watched Bella's shoulders square. "We weren't trying to reject you- you are welcome here."

Bella snapped, her movements faster than Sam had expected from the girl- she was in front of Paul in less than a second, standing toe to toe with the most volatile wolf in the Pack. Imprint or no, Sam was nervous.

"You didn't _mean_ to?! You didn't _mean_ to make sure that it was fucking _clear_ that I was unwelcome?! I noticed, I saw- the stalking, the watching from a distance whenever I was here! One of you was always watching, waiting, what did you expect me to do, huh?!" Bella growled out, Paul smirked- to him she sounded like a kitten fighting a tiger. Or a puppy taking on a wolf. She narrowed her eyes at him. "I just tried to _make your life easier_ , you know that right? I just tried to _die_ for your tribe! Your home! You won- I caved, I was going to no longer be a _problem!_ "

"Don't you fucking **dare** talk like that, little Swan." Paul's eyes narrowed and he stepped closer, they were now close enough that _all_ of the other wolves moved forward, Paul snarled at them- only Embry backed up. "You don't get to make that decision; you don't get to take yourself out of the equation- there are more people involved than just _you_."

That was the last straw for Bella- the lying bullshit that Paul had just spewed at her. _None_ of them cared about her- not a damn one of them! They had been so 'welcoming' to her and yet had rejected her at every turn, stalked her through the reservation. Paul had no right to talk to her as if she had no say in her own _**life**_. Ending it or otherwise. She reared back and, open handed, went to smack Paul across his arrogant and angry face- her own indignation alight on hers.

Before it could connect, however, his large and hot hand was wrapped around her wrist. His grip tightened as he snarled at her. His eyes took on a feral glow for a second as he pulled her close to him- when he spoke his voice was deeper than anyone had ever heard it before, he spoke directly to his mate. It seemed that he had forgotten others were around.

"You should think before you do that again, Swan." The way her last name rolled off his tongue made Bella shiver, warmth oddly pooling in her lower abdomen. He was turning her on! Paul pulled her against his chest, his voice still that deepened growl- more animal than man. "Don't temp a predator, little Swan, my Bella- you may not like the outcome."

Bella pushed against Paul, desperately trying to get away from the man. She was scared, Jared and Embry could easily see that. Sam and Jacob, however, were fuming at Paul- the outright dominance he was displaying over the much smaller, and weaker, Bella. Sam stepped forward, gently.

"Paul," Sam reached an arm out towards Bella, Paul growled and almost snapped at him. "Do not snap at me, pup. Look at her- you're scaring her. She is terrified- Bella isn't fighting you, she's trying to get to safety."

Paul stopped instantly, his arms going lax around Bella. She backed away and stumbled, Paul's hand shot out to stop her from hitting the ground as hard. He lowered her down and backed away- eyes wide. He had almost attacked his imprint, his _wife_ under tribal law. He could feel it, when the wolf took over, the need to put her beneath him- and not just sexually. He wanted her to know who she belonged to but also who was there to protect her, love her, and hold her. His wolf had wanted to _dominate_ her, wholly and completely. To remark her and teach her who she was messing with when she threatened such things.

He turned and ran, phasing before he hit the trees. Bella felt a stab to her chest that she didn't understand- noticing the silver color to the wolf that was running away.

Was Paul _her_ silver wolf? Had she just tried to smack the wolf she had chosen in the darkness?

Bella gasped and hit the ground, hard, with sobs wracking her body again.

What had she done?

* * *

Paul ran. He had wanted to attack her, to break her down- to mold that fire and fight to his own will and his own wants. That wasn't Paul- he had _never_ wanted something like that before. But the act of her attempting to smack him, especially after she claimed that she was doing the _right_ thing, doing the Pack a fucking _favor_ by killing herself… He had just gone insane.

The wolf wanted to teach his mate just what she meant to him- through complete dominance. The worst part? Bella was turned _on_ by it for a moment, before her fear kicked in when he went too far. She had literally been _terrified_ of him, of what he had said, what he could do. He had just royally fucked his imprint up, and she didn't even know about it yet!

 **Jared:** _Paul you need to come back, man._

Jared's voice was worried, but not unwelcome.

 **Jared:** _Bella needs you. She's freaking out, all piled on the ground and crying. We don't know what to do- she's upset that she had tried to smack you. Keeps mumbling about her silver wolf. None of us get it._

 **Paul:** _I just fucking scared her, what the hell am I supposed to help with now? She isn't going to want to be_ _ **anywhere**_ _near_ _ **me**_ _._

 **Jared:** _You don't know that, Paul. Please- just… at least come back and see if you can help._

Paul hesitated for a moment, he had stopped running at least. He could feel her distress through their bond, and he longed to assuage it. He wanted so badly to help- but how could he be sure that he wouldn't go off on her? How could he be sure that his wolf would stay put?

 **Jared:** _She's your imprint, man. She needs you. She doesn't know what's going on- she doesn't understand. We need you._

 **Paul:** _Fine. I'm on my way back._

Paul ran to the edge of the woods by Sam's house where Jared stood waiting with a pair of his shorts. He had completely forgotten that he had phased on the fly- that he had lost his shorts in the process. Damn it- he didn't have many of them left.

After he phased, Paul looked into Sam's driveway. Bella was still there, curled into a ball on the ground. Jake was pacing around her- now glaring at him just like Sam and Embry were. What struck him as odd, however, was that he didn't remember seeing Billy or Joshua after Bella woke up. In fact, he hadn't seen them since he entered the house. Joshua's car was gone too.

Had they left without him noticing? Some fucking wolf he was.

Taking a breath and stepping forward out of the trees he steeled himself for this. Bella was still positively terrified, but the pain was beginning to mask the fear. Paul felt the pain lessen with every step he took towards his mate. Jake stopped in front of him- a few steps from Bella, and if looks could kill Paul was certain he'd be six feet under.

"You're not going near her unless you can control yourself, asshole." Jake muttered too low for Bella to hear- all she could pick up was the growl. It made her flinch and curl up tighter. Paul saw this and pushed the baby alpha out of the way while calmly responding.

"It's not me scaring her this time." Paul's reply was clipped as he knelt down next to his mate, she relaxed a little at just his presence but her initial fear remained. Paul's wolf howled on the inside at it- the rejection. It was unintentional on her part, a fully normal response to what he had done but the wolf didn't care.

"W-w-what d-do y-you want-t, Pa-aul?" Her words were stuttered through tears as she carefully tilted her head to look at him through her hair. He gently reached for her, slowly to allow her time to back up or reject the attempt at affection, pushing the hair away from her face he rubbed his thumb down her cheek to remove the tears. She gently leaned into the touch, an unconscious move on her part. When she spoke again her voice was still shaky but she did not stutter. "It hurts. Why does it hurt? I don't understand…"

"Little Swan, I am sorry. I should not have overreacted in such a way, especially after the day you have had and what you have gone through." Paul whispered to her, the presence of his Pack meant nothing currently. Only the woman on the dirt before him. He leaned down and scooped her up to hold him, clutching her to his chest as he sat back up. She settled onto his lap and it felt so _right_. The elation in his chest was probably visible to everyone.

"I'm tired, Paul… So… just so tired." Bella wasn't lying, and all the wolves could feel it. The initial strength she had when she had awoken had come from the Pack and her bond to them- strengthened and weakened by the bonding with Jake through the imprint. Bella yawned into Paul's chest, her eyes fluttering as she stopped drawing from the Pack- she had not even realized she was doing it.

Paul leaned his head down, his mouth close to her ear. "Sleep, little Swan. You'll be safe when you awaken- and you'll get your answers then."

"Promise?" Bella was barely conscious now, her eyes unopened. Her breathing was calm, steady, and her heart rate was doing the same.

"I'd promise you the world, if I thought you'd believe me, Little Swan." Paul whispered to her, knowing she had not heard him. He could hear Jared and Embry snigger behind him- and what sounded like money being passed from hand to hand. Probably another one of their bets. He looked at them and growled lightly, enough to get his message across without disturbing the girl in his lap.

"Get her inside, Paul. Billy and Joshua went to see Harry and Sue at the hospital." Sam's voice was strained- the stress of Bella's pain beginning to wane from his chest finally as she slumbered. "We will need to be prepared- the Council will want to speak to us tomorrow."

"Let them." Paul replied nonchalantly while he stood with Bella still in his arms. "Now that I have her- now that she _knows_ \- I'm not letting her go. And I dare them to try."

"For once, Sam, I have to agree with Bella." Embry said, speaking for the first time in a while. Embry was quieter than the rest of them- pensive and thoughtful. Old for his age. "I'll go to war for her- even if it means against the Council."

"I agree." The rest of the Pack replied, making Paul smile a secret inward smile. Bella was _theirs_ and she wasn't going anywhere.

* * *

 _A/N: So I finally have Bella involved with the Pack! And it was only 30 chapters in the making! I am so sorry for the slow burn on this one but the relationship had to take a back seat for a bit. It **is** coming (for those who worry, I've received comments)! Anyway, the next few chapters will be more lighthearted with a bit of darker- but there will also be some time hopping again- but no more than a few weeks at a time._

 _Thank you to all of my readers and those who have reviewed!_


	31. The Tighter The Bonds

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

Paul had not set Bella down for the last hour, he was refusing to actually. His body was draped over half the couch in Sam's living room while the rest of the Pack lounged with him. Jared was resting against the other arm, their legs relaxed between the other's. Embry was laying on the floor near the stairs, apparently a precaution in case she awoke and ran again, which made everyone except Emily laugh.

Only Jacob and Sam seemed still serious, intensity lining every muscle in their bodies. They knew that when Old Quil and the lady Akil got a hold of this information it would cause an uproar between the Council and the Pack- and there would be lines drawn.

But on whose side would the Alpha's stand?

Jacob wanted badly, _so badly,_ to forgive his father for what he had allowed to happen- but at the same time he understood where Sam and the rest of his Brothers were coming from. The Council's decisions, and his father's inaction, had almost _killed_ Bella. She had chosen to _die_ for the Pack- for people who she had even admitted to being **angry** with, people she had felt rejected her.

Sam, on the other hand, was going over the note in his head. Over and over he reread the words in his mind. The pain behind her statements- the anguish in her heart as she had jumped, the light flickering slowly like a fire without wood. He looked again to the girl laying on his hit man's chest, she looked so small compared to the volatile man. Sam grabbed the letter from Emily's hand, she was reading it again, when Emily broke the silence of the Pack.

"Who is Victoria?" Her voice caused an instant sense of alarm in the wolves. No one had pondered that yet, in fact non but Sam had even been thinking of the letter at all.

"I think I know." Jake replied as he leaned forward on his hands. He looked to Paul unsure about having this conversation while Bella was in the arms of an already quick to phase Pack Brother. Not that he thought Paul would ever _intentionally_ hurt her- but the scars adorning Emily showed him just what a single instant of control loss could do.

"What do you mean?" Sam's voice was intense, Jared and Embry had come to the table almost instantly at the words from Jake. Only Paul seemed to be hesitating, not wishing to let go of his mate. Jake motioned to Paul with worry in his eyes, Sam followed the gesture and looked to Paul as well. His features marred with concern for a moment before he spoke. "Paul, will you please put Bella on the couch? She's sleeping fine, Doctor Whitehawk told Emily that she was fine before he left with Billy and Joshua. Em can sit with her if you're worried."

Paul hesitated for a moment longer before he finally released a heavy sigh and nodded. He put Bella down as gently as he could, not wishing to jostle her too much and wake her up. Em moved quickly to sit next to the girl, she curled up into herself and watched her mate intently. Paul was stiff as he moved to take a seat at the table.

"In my letter," Jake started, explaining at a noise from Embry, "She wrote three letters, and I think four really. One was to me, I left it at my house, one to Sam, and the last to my father. It was thicker than the others which is why I think she wrote four- Billy's probably held one for Charlie."

"Okay, but how do you know who this _Victoria_ is?" Paul's low growl was understood by the wolves at the table but Jake still bristled at the tone. Their stare down was electric- with Jake conceding information but not without keeping eye contact.

"In my letter she spoke of a nomad leech, a single grieving nomad." Only when Jake gave the information did Paul look away- a small sign of submission. Jake continued at a cough from Sam. "She wrote that there was a red haired leech coming, a woman whose mate the Cullen leech killed. Apparently she wants to make Bella pay, mate for mate-"

"She is not that little shits _mate_!" Paul spat angrily, his entire body shaking enough to jostle the chair against the floor. Emily leaned back into the couch a little, a protective hand reaching for Bella's shoulder. "That leech tried to fucking _drain_ her- like a god damn sacrifice in the woods. All cuts and blood- venom literally permeating her scent and skin."

"Big words, Paul- usually you aren't so smart!" Jared laughed, standing as he did so. He looked at Sam for a fraction of a second and then back at Paul. "She's already whipping you, isn't she?"

Then he ran, dropping his shorts at the door with ease. Paul growled loudly and ran after him- this time remember to strip his own shorts off closer to the border of the trees. Sam sighed and leaned his head in his hands.

"What else did Bella tell you?" Sam asked quietly, his anger at Jared's goading of Paul masked by the relief that Paul and Jared would release their tensions by trying to tear each other apart. Aside from himself, Jared was the only one who could take Paul in a fight. The joker of a kid was wily on four paws.

"Only that she would not endanger the reservation by allowing Victoria to come here. The last words on my letter were _P.S Isn't it a good day for a dive?_ That was how I knew what she was planning, and where she might be. Those words were the last things I could think when I ran here- aside from the thought that if she died I would never be able to forgive my father." Jake's voice was as tense as Paul's had been a moment before. It was obvious to Sam that _all_ of the wolves would need to relax, and soon, or the explosion would be rather secret-blowingly spectacular.

Sam nodded and found himself lost in his thoughts again when a howl split the air- and not the howl of two wolves play fighting. Sam was on his feet in less than a second, followed by Embry and Jake as they ran to the door. Paul nearly collided with his Alpha as he tried to run inside, a pink scar running down his chest.

"Quil." Was all he had to say before Sam nodded and motioned for Jake and Embry to follow.

"Stay here, keep them safe." Sam's voice was clipped as he stripped on the edge of his porch. He was a wolf before he hit the ground from his jump.

Paul walked inside and closed the door. There were other scars and places where he hadn't rubbed all of the blood off of his body. Emily was quick to stand and get him a damp cloth, ever the Pack mother. He paced the room, door to stairs. Emily watched him carefully, her eyes tracking him from where she stood in the kitchen. Of all the wolves in Sam's Pack, Paul was the one she had gotten to know the most.

He was also the one she was the wariest of.

"Paul- this is about more than Quil." Emily's voice was quiet but she knew he would hear her. She continued when he began to slow his pacing. "I know that you must be feeling so many things right now- but is really being this wound up going to help Bella? She tried to kill herself today. Judging from the letter she wrote Sam and what she said to Jake… I would say that she did it for _us_ , for the Pack- the Reservation."

"Doesn't stop me from being angry." Paul growled out, more human than animal. Emily smiled, she knew Paul was just being Paul.

"There would be something wrong with you if you _weren't_ angry, Paul." Emily sighed as she set out a plate of sandwiches she had been making. They were cut into four little triangles, something she had noticed made the wolves smile. She believed it was because it was a kid thing. And they were all just that, kids. "But, and you're not going to agree with me here, you need to think about it from her perspective for a second, okay?"

Paul moved to sit at the table, taking a smaller plate and a cup that Emily had set out for him. She was the only one in the Pack who remembered he preferred tea over coffee- though he never turned down either. She got around the tea kettle, her teas, and her own cup before she walked to the table herself. Only when she was setting across from him, their teas steeping in their cups, did Paul speak.

"I'll bite, Em." Paul said after taking an almost human bite of the mini triangle sandwich. He wasn't necessarily starving hungry, but with his metabolism he knew better than to turn down offered food. Especially when he was the only ravenous wolf around to eat it.

"In her letter to Sam she talked about how she was angry with Sam, and the Pack, because they had abandoned her. Haven't you heard Jake talking the last couple weeks? He's been so worried about her, alone in Forks more often than not when she's home. I spoke to him recently too, about Bella." She sipped her tea and took a breath. "He said that from what Billy had told him, and what he had seen and heard from her, that she's always been too old for her age. Now, I'm not going to side with her about choosing to be so close to vampires, but I can see why she might have found them comforting. And why she is so angry at us, why it hurt so much."

"What do you mean, Em?" Paul's eyes tracked over to Bella, who had muttered in her sleep and curled on the couch.

"The Cullens were a family- weren't they? Parents, siblings? Or, at least, they pretended to be one." Emily laughed a little at the idea of the vampire coven and their twisted idea of humanity. "If they were welcoming, before one tried to eat her, then wouldn't it make sense that she loved them in her own way? If they truly _did_ play house in such a way- then it makes sense to me if they had tried to fold her into their family."

"What does this have to do with us, though?" Paul was actually clenching his teeth now, though he had not yet started to shake. Emily believed it was only for the sake of the order to protect her and Bella that he hadn't.

"When she was here before, after you marked her, do you not remember how alive she was? When her and I were sitting and drinking tea she looked so alight- so bright that it almost hurt to see her." Emily smiled and took another slow sip on her cup. "We were being a Pack that day, surrounding our new member that we would soon have to let go- being a family in every sense. Yet, due to the Council and their backwards decisions, she was abandoned when she left. Sam had to stop me _many_ times from calling her over to spend time with her. Even from such a short time of being around her she felt like a sister to me, especially since an imprint will feel the bonds within the Pack."

"You do?" Paul asked, surprised.

"Yes, Sam managed to find that information from the Keeper recently. He has spent a lot of time there, many nights when he hasn't been able to sleep." Emily sighed sadly. She understood the need for more information, especially since it was obvious that Old Quil and the widow Akil were withholding things they knew. That didn't mean that she needed to like Sam leaving their bed, her arms. "Imprints will feel, through their wolf, the bonds of the Pack. Sam's Brothers are my Brothers; Sam's Sisters mine as well. With _all_ of you imprinting on Bella that bond is only stronger- especially for Sam and myself since he is currently Alpha."

"Baby Alpha doesn't even _want_ the position- Em. Sam might end up with it no matter what." Paul replied as he picked up yet another piece of sandwich. The plate had emptied quite a bit while Emily had talked. "But if you feel them and you're only imprinted to Sam… then, oh Spirits…" Paul's eyes widened as the realization hit him with full force, like a truck at full speed into his chest.

"She felt _all_ of you, at differing levels. She felt the pull, the bond, to every wolf and imprint in the Pack." Emily nodded as Paul's realization hit his face.

Bella had felt _everyone_. She had bonded, through whatever it was that made her their imprint, with _all_ of them- and she had felt that bond grow thinner and thinner, the gap wider between all of them. Paul and Jared had noticed her holding her chest tightly in recent days, she must have been in constant pain- worsening with more time spent away from the reservation.

"What did we let happen, Em? How is she even going to trust any of us after what we did?" Paul's questions were sad, his voice choking back the tears of a possibly denied imprint. He had already _royally_ fucked the process- going from imprint who doesn't know to _marked_ imprint who doesn't know to fully bonded and _married_ , marked, imprint who _**doesn't know**_. "She is going to hate us, deny us."

"Is it really us you're worried about, Paul?" Emily's voice was soft and sympathetic. "Or is it you?"

"I would be lying if I said that it was more us than me." Paul admitted as he stuffed the rest of the triangle into his mouth, taking time to chew it- his eyes flying to his imprint yet again.

More and more recently he had found himself thinking of her as his _wife_ , his mate, his companion for life. The idea, something that should have rightfully scared the shit out of him, was comforting. It had made the nights of sleeping in the woods outside her home, sometimes as close as just under the window, worth it. Knowing that his imprint, his mate, his _wife_ was sleeping within such a reach. The wolf had been howling in joy since the bonding had happened- she was _theirs._

The bonding had consequences that even he didn't know. The Keeper had told him only that when the _right_ question was asked by the right Seeker would she divulge just what the bonding had done to Bella- especially since her body was already teeming with Venom.

Bella groaned again, a light and sleepy sound, as she curled a little tighter. Paul's eyes scanned his mate's body as she did so. Her shoulders, which were now facing him, were a little red. The scratches from the rocks had been irritated by the salt water, though they weren't bleeding- he would see that through the shirt.

"She's right there, Paul." Emily smiled as she moved the final three triangles to his plate before she stood and walked to the counter to begin making more food. It hadn't been _too_ long- but Sam, Jakob, and Embry should have no problem in getting Quil to come back to human. Jared was probably not even needed for this one.

"Hey, Emily. They shouldn't be much longer, Sam said to tell you." Jared said as he sauntered in, sporting some new and fading scars himself. Think of the devil, apparently, Emily laughed a little to herself as she continued to make food. "You still beating yourself up, man?"

Jared nearly threw himself down on the bench opposite where Paul was sitting, taking Emily's place that she had vacated recently. He was staring intently at his Pack Brother, eyes narrowing as he looked him up and down.

"How aren't you?" Paul's voice was surprisingly calm given the way he was looking at Jared. "I mean- isn't she your imprint just as much as mine?"

"Different kind, man." Jared laughed a little as he ran his hands through his hair. "You're her true imprint, the other half of her soul- the only one who can make her the happiest or break her the worst. She's my sister, and in that way she matches my soul. I can't be romantic to her- I'm pretty sure none of us can. Whatever the Keeper keeps talking about involves her, this bond, so I'm sure that you're the only one who will get to win her heart."

"As if she's going to let me in." Paul rest his head on his hands, the lines of his shoulders slumping in the picture of despair. Jared thought for a moment of trying to comfort his Brother but he thought better of it, he didn't feel like getting his hand bitten off.

Sudden commotion at the door made both Paul and Jared spring up and in the matter of a second Paul was standing in a crouched defensive position next to Bella, Jared was mimicking Paul but standing between Emily and the door. It took both boys a moment to come to grips with what they were hearing.

"This is so fricking _cool!_ I had a tail!" Quil's voice and laughter was loud, close, and not a threat. Paul and Jared both relaxed as Sam walked into the cabin followed by the three friends. Both Paul and Jared looked at each other and rolled their eyes.

These three were going to fucking _suck_ to deal with.

Quil's eyes scanned the interior of the cabin quickly, stopping on the pale body on the couch. His new senses meant only that he could see her perfectly, smell her from here, just barely hear the sleeping breathing. His eyes widened as a scent he knew well, spices and almost a honey sweetness, ticked his brain as to _who_ was on the couch.

"What the _hell_ is Bella doing here?!" Quil's exclamation was loud, his eyes as wide as plates. The sudden silence of the room was uncomfortable.

Emily was the only one willing to make noise as she finished up the rather large plate of sandwiches, glad for thousandth time that she baked her own bread, and moved to put it on the table. She grabbed a pile of smaller plates and a tray of cups she had been making. No one moved as the woman seemed to float through her kitchen and around Jared- who was still standing between her and the door. Once the table was set did she look at the boys, her eyes stopping on Sam.

"You may want to explain things." Emily's soft voice had a profound effect on the Pack in her house- all of them seemed to release a breath they had been holding. Sam nodded and walked forward, Jared almost skipping out of the way, to wrap Emily in a warm and loving hug.

"Food?" Quil asked as he looked to the plate of sandwiches, letting go of the shorts he had been holding with one hand. They promptly began to fall, only to be caught by Embry who was shaking his head. "Oh, shit. Sorry."

"Sit, boys. I didn't poison any of them." Emily smiled as Sam kissed her scars quickly before he too moved to sit. "Tea, coffee, or water?"

"I'll get them, Em, why don't you sit?" Jared asked as he moved to block Emily from getting back into her kitchen. They stared each other down for a moment before Emily smiled and rolled her eyes gently, moving to sit next to Sam who instantly relaxed at the feeling of his mate beside him.

Once every one was seated and eating a heaping pile of sandwiches, smaller in the case of Paul and Emily, did anyone speak. It was Sam who broke the silence that had otherwise only been broken by shifting plates and sips from cups.

"So," Sam sighed and looked quickly to Bella before fixing his eyes on Quil. "I'm going to begin at the beginning- and you're _going_ to keep your mouth _shut._ "

"Okay?" Quil's face scrunched in confusion.

"There are parts of my story that deal with the Council- with your grandfather." Sam thought of something and then asked a quick question. "Does he know you've phased?"

"No, I was alone at my house when it happened. Though I'm sure the paw marks in the backyard will be one hell of a clue." Quil laughed, his Pack smiling too.

"Alright, then we have some time." Sam heaved another deep breath before looked to Jared and Paul with a silent entreaty to help him with some of the details. They nodded silently so Sam began to talk. "Last September there was a call to us about a missing girl…"

* * *

 _A/N: Sorry, I realized that I had to fit Quil into this chapter for the plot (I was just going to have him phase and not spend time on it- my bad!) so I had to extend this chapter a bit and fit that in. More Council next chapter, as well as some other lighter fare for the readers who would like a break (albeit small) from the drama that is 90% of this story!_


	32. I Have a Husband

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

Bella had barely begun to stir when she was suddenly, vibrantly, aware that she was somewhere that wasn't home. What she was laying on was not her bed, the voices she could hear through her sleep induced haze not Charlie or the radio, the smell of food not dinner she had fallen asleep cooking.

Her sudden awareness was punctuated by a gasp and her sitting straight up on the couch she had been laid on. Her position was intimately familiar to five of the six males in the room, she was crouching low on her feet, a single hand in front of her touching the cushion to steady herself. Her hair was wildly draped and her eyes wide in their assessment of her surroundings.

No one spoke, no one moved. Bella wasn't fully aware yet, not fully awake, but it was obvious that she wasn't where she had expected to be. As her heart rate began to slow, and her eyes stopped darting between bodies as quickly there was finally movement. Paul stepped forward with his hands out towards Bella, he was holding them palms out close to his own body as more of a sign of calm submission instead of attack.

"Bella," Paul's voice was soothing, soft. Had there not been enough tension to cut with a knife Jared and Embry would have been laughing. "Bella? You're okay. We brought you to Sam's, don't you remember?"

Her eyes widened more as she began to relax, there seemed to be no recognition of having woken up earlier in her eyes. Her body relaxed in a sad way as she began to curl up, tears forming in her confused and sad eyes.

"No, no, no…" She kept repeating that singular syllable over and over as she curled into herself completely, the tears that had threatened her now falling. Her breath became shaky as her body began to quiver with her cries. "I… I can't be here!"

Bella went to stand and found herself smacking into a rather solid and warm brick wall. She stumbled backwards only to be caught in a vice grip just as warm as the wall in front of her. She looked up and found herself staring into dark intense eyes. The emotions swirling within them gave her pause, stopping the instinct to fight the arms that held her.

"Calm, little Swan." Paul's voice was still just as calming and smooth as it had been. "Breathe, relax, and think." He shifted his arms, resting his hands on her hips and using his thumbs to rub soft and slow circles on her sides. "You're okay, just breathe."

"I'm _not_ okay!" Bella's voice was rebellious as she tried to stop her tears. "I shouldn't be here!" Bella's mind was racing as her thoughts began to stabilize, memories of her prior bit of wakefulness hitting her all at once. Her eyes widened farther than anyone thought possible as she remembered Paul's predatory gaze, his words that had created such longing in her, the way he had held her closely, so closely, and yet had not allowed her to fall when she had stumbled away from him.

And now here they were, reenacting their earlier positions. His arms tightened around her ever so slightly and her heart jumped as the warmth continued to sink into her body. She wasn't cold by any means, but the warmth that Paul brought- it was something Bella could not explain, her body _wanted_ this warmth- she wanted it so desperately.

"Paul," Bella stuttered the words out, her neck craning to look at the tall man. "Please, can you let me go?"

Paul looked down at his mate, the need to dominate flaring up from the wolf within. He wanted her, could smell the beginnings of her arousal, and it was making his need to take her so completely hard to take. Fighting back the wolf within, a near thing, Paul gave Bella a smirk.

"No, not yet." Paul pulled Bella closer, holding her to his chest and resting his chin on her head. Bella didn't struggle, didn't move, didn't fight his arms as they held him. Inside he was literally howling with joy. She wasn't fighting _him_ ; she was allowing herself to be held- she was letting _him_ hold her. "Bella, I know you are upset, I understand that you are angry- I'm not going to fight that, but can you please let Sam talk?"

"Why?" Bella's voice cracked as she began to cry. Her body shook almost violently in nature, held only by Paul's arms as her knees slumped slightly. "I just want to go; I want to not hurt anymore. I want it to _stop_."

Bella's tears were hard for the wolves, all of them to hear. Quil had yet to look in her eyes but just looking at her had a draw, something he couldn't explain as he found himself stepping forward. A low growl from Paul and a hand on his shoulder, Jake's, stopped Quil from taking more than two steps. He looked to his friend inquisitively, a question in his eyes, Jake just shook his head silently. Quil nodded and moved back a step.

"Bella, little Swan," Paul started as he bent to lift Bella into his arms, holding her in a cradling way with her head on his chest. "I promise to let you go once you've heard the truth, alright? Please, just let Sam talk."

Bella nodded with a gasping and shuddered breath. The beat of Paul's heart beneath her hand was calming, as was the feel of his pectoral under her cheek- he was just so _warm._ Paul smiled and moved to the table, Jake and Quil moving out of his way as he walked by them. Bella leaned tighter in to Paul's embrace as he walked towards the table to sit on the bench facing the wall. Jake sat beside Paul, with Embry on the other towards the door.

Sam, Quil, and Jared sat opposite with Emily bustling around her kitchen making even more food. It was darkening outside and Sam had already called Charlie to tell him that Bella and Emily were out having a girl's day. Charlie had been alright with it, and alright with Bella spending the night due to lack of school in the morning. The only factor Sam hadn't been able to get a bead on was the Council- they were so unpredictable, especially Old Quil.

"Bella, I know this will be a lot- but I must ask you to listen to the entire tale before you interrupt me." Bella actually softly laughed at Sam for a moment, causing all the wolves to look at her. "What's funny, Bella?"

"Tale. Tail. It's funny." Bella mumbled through her laughter, making the rest of the room laugh as well. It settled the mood, made things just a little lighter. Bella looked up from Paul's chest and into the eyes of everyone at the table, stopping on Quil last in confusion.

The reaction was expected, the sudden surge of power through the air as dark eyes met darker. Quil gasped in surprise as the rush overtook him, the others had described what it would feel like when he looked at her- but he had not prepared for this. The feeling of almost all of the cables that he had once thought of that tethered him to the Earth and his tribe were stripped away. Quil had to agree with Jared, though, that he didn't _want_ Bella- she had suddenly become something dearer than a sister, almost like a complimenting soul versus a second half of his soul.

"W-what is that?" Bella stuttered the question out as she leaned back into Paul in surprise. She had felt the same thing when she looked at Jake, but in her hazy mind it had seemed more like a friends seeing each other for the first time than a sudden shift of the world.

"I'll explain everything Bella, if you let me." Sam's voice was quiet and calming, Bella merely nodded at him. "In September when your father called Billy about your disappearance, it was actually the Pack who took the call. Billy knew that Charlie was frantic from the way he was speaking- so he immediately called the Pack to help look for you; back then it was only myself, Jared, and Paul. We decided to look in the woods, trying to smell for you, since we knew that you had been dating one of the Cullen leeches."

Sam continued to talk, telling Bella the other side of things that she had been involved in. He told her of the shift to all of the wolves when it regarded her- and the only interruption Bella had was to ask Emily if she was okay with such a thing, especially since she was to marry Sam. Emily gave a wide and genuine smile when she told Bella that it truly was alright, better Bella than her.

Jared took over when it came to talking about finding her. Paul had tried to talk about the condition she was in but had begun to shake and it was silently decided that Paul shouldn't talk about such things with his mate in his arms. Jared spoke of the scars, the blood, the ripped pieces of clothing, and how she was barely conscious and dying for the run back to Emily and Sam's house. Jared did not speak of his trip to the Keeper, looking at Sam to ensure that had been the right course of action.

Embry and Jake then spoke about the night they spent at her house- from the smell that Embry could smell the _entire_ time and the fact that Jake could only smell it in her room. They had questions about why the scent was strong, Jake finally breaking and asking them with narrowed eyes.

"Why did your room smell so heavily of leech?" Jake was curious more than angry.

"Because he would come to my room at night," Bella said quietly, silencing Paul's growl with a stroke to his arm. "He liked to watch me sleep. They don't… I think he liked the humanity of it."

All of the wolves at the table stifled low growls at the thought. The leech at been _in her room_ while she had been sleeping. At her literally most vulnerable, and he had been there. From the sounds of how she said it, too, he had done it _before_ she had given him any sort of permission to do it.

Embry picked up the story again and kept talking, trying to assuage the awkwardness that had happened from Jake and his questions. Had Paul and Bella _not_ been sitting between them he probably would have given his Brother a good hard kicking under the table.

Paul finally managed to speak calmly when it came to telling Bella about the hospital trip to the reservation's clinic and what Sue and Dr. Whitehawk had done to save her life.

"You have O- blood, Bella." Paul started, having pulled the girl back enough to look into her brown eyes. He lost himself in those soft orbs as he spoke. "The reservation doesn't keep a stock of much blood as it is, and none of it O- so they were in a bind. I wasn't fully paying attention when Sue talked to Emily about you needing blood- my mind was spinning and hard. You were dying in my arms and up to then there had been _nothing_ I could do."

"I'm sorry." Bella apologized and looked down, Paul brought one of his hands between them to gently push her chin upwards so she was looking back at him- her eyes wet with unshed tears.

"Don't be, Bella. You, your presence, your life… There is _nothing_ more precious than that to me." Paul whispered and managed to reign in his need to kiss the girl in his lap. "Don't ever sell yourself short enough to believe that there is _anything_ that would stop the Pack from keeping you safe and protected." Bella nodded silently, awe in her eyes as she forgot to keep breathing while looking at Paul. He smiled and continued as she finally took a breath. "When Sue said that we needed O- blood I realized there was something I could do, something I could _give_. I am O- as well; I could give you my blood to offset all of the blood you lost. We rushed to do that."

"While you were getting blood from Paul, Jared had gone to speak to the Keeper. She is the oldest and wisest of us- there are even rumors that she is as ancient as the land itself." Sam continued on for Paul, who had begun to choke again on his words. "The Keeper told Jared that you were important, that you would imprint with all wolves in the Pack, and that the bonds you would create needed to be protected and allowed to grow."

"Imprint?" Bella grew too curious and interrupted Sam, she dipped her head in apology when Sam looked at her with a piercing gaze.

"I will explain later, let us finish this first." Sam replied nonchalantly, not angered by her stopping him. Bella again nodded, this time more readily, and Sam continued to talk. He told her of the rest of the time at the clinic- the pain he and Jared had shared when her body had gone rigid. He explained the reasoning that Dr. Whitehawk gave- that she was now a battleground between the Wolves and their natural enemy. Bella opened her mouth to speak but thought better of it, apparently, as no noise came out.

Then came the hardest part of these talks- the Council and their decisions. Sam actually began to slow down, enunciate everything a little slower, as he hesitated in talking about this particular subject. Sam wasn't sure how Bella was going to take this part of the story- the inaction of the Pack concerning one of their own. The lines of her body became harder as she listened, her eyes attentive and alert as she listened without trying to interrupt. Paul began to get nervous as Bella began to become rigid with Sam's words.

"The Council had made their decision based on your history with the Cullens and what they are. Treaty with them or not the Council, most of it anyway, decided that having you near the Pack was a dangerous thing- something that needed to be carefully watched." Sam said finally. He had chosen to not speak of the mark or the tribal law marriage to Paul- that could wait. Bella had to digest and accept everything else before they could tell her of that. "They ordered us to stay away from you- the threat to our tribe and land. They deemed that you had to earn your place here, that you could not join the Pack until you had proven your worth and loyalty- no matter what bonds you had with the Pack."

"So I was right? In your eyes, I wasn't good enough." Bella mumbled as soft as she could, obviously hoping that no one would hear. The wolves, however, heard it perfectly- Paul tightened his arms around Bella while the rest of the Pack again had to silence low growling.

"We, as a Pack, have never thought you weren't good enough Bella." Paul's deep voice reverberated in her ears and through her body. "Sam and I almost got into fist fights with the Council over their decisions."

"Decisions that you have gone completely against, Paul Lahote." The voice was an unwelcome intrusion to the moment, hard and cold in its timbre and intensity. All heads whipped towards the door with eyes training on the group of men who were now standing there, accompanied by a single woman. Old Quil stood forefront with Sue Clearwater, looking ragged and run down, behind him slightly. Joshua Uley and Billy Black were in the back, Joshua's hands resting on the hand holds of Billy's chair.

Paul instantly growled and became tense, his arms tightening even further around Bella. The rest of the wolves, including the younger Quil Ateara in the room, shifted slightly into defensive positions. Sam and Jake both standing.

"Why has the Council come to my home?" Sam's deep voice was commanding, so much so that even Bella and Emily could feel the raw and animalistic power in it. The tense air sent shivers up Bella's spine, her eyes darting from Sam to the Council.

"The Council has come because it was recently brought to our attention by Billy that Bella was in your presence and had been told of the Protectors." Old Quil's venomous voice was grating on the ears of the Protectors, his attempt at authority rubbing all of them the wrong way. "I believe we had discussed this before, so now I must ask why you have broken your agreed upon test."

"We broke nothing, Councilmember Ateara." Sam replied coldly, his eyes narrowing. Before he could say more, however, he was interrupted by Bella. Paul made a small noise when the girl left his arms, but he did not fight her when she chose to stand.

"Old Quil, for someone who is a friend of Charlie's I can see that you hate me." Bella walked towards the Council with steady feet, her steps never more sure in her life. "I can see it in your eyes, the hate that you have swallowed."

"What I feel for you or your father, _girl_ , matters not compared to what I must do to protect this Tribe." Old Quil "There are monsters out there, monsters that _you_ have knowingly consorted with- knowingly had relations with."

Bella stood strong at the accusations of what she and the Cullens had done, what she and _Edward_ had done. She knew that she was still a virgin, she knew that Edward had feared to truly touch her- She knew, and that is all that matters. She squared her shoulder as she stopped in front of the older native man. She had once respected him, but looking at the hardened hatful lines on his face that respect was quickly dissolving.

"You have _nothing_ to use here, sir." The 'sir' was laden with disdain and sarcasm. "My relationship with the Cullens is my own, and if you need proof of my virginity I am _more_ than happy to let Sue examine me- I'm sure she'd be able to see that you're lying."

"So you deny having relations with a Cold One?" Old Quil's eyes narrowed to deadly slits as he talked. His smile was cruel and cold. "Be that as it may, you were still in their presence. You are still tainted by their venom, the marks of your time with them adorn your body like badges. Or have you not looked into the mirror recently?"

"I see them every time I look at my body, thank you." Bella's resolve slipped for just a moment, a single crack in the armor she was so desperately trying to present as hard and unwavering. Old Quil jumped at this, his eyes eager as he continued to push Bella.

"So you _don't_ deny being covered in their marks? In their venom? You don't deny having their influence over you still?" Old Quil laughed sourly. "Or have you and our wayward Protectors come up with a better excuse as to why you tried to kill yourself on the cliffs today?" Bella gasped, her surprise just what Old Quil had been looking for. "Oh yes, _girl_ , the Council knows. We were given your letters to Billy, Jake, and even your father Charlie. We know that you tried to kill yourself today by jumping from the cliffs into darkened waters. Do you deny it?!"

Bella looked down, her shoulders still hardened against the words Old Quil was spewing at her like sewage. "No, I don't."

Sue Clearwater stepped in before Old Quil could say anything else, her hand placed in a calming manner on the older man's shoulder to quiet him. Her eyes were kind, although hard, when she talked to Bella.

"Bella what you did, what you tried to do, is a rather serious transgression against your Pack. You knowingly attempted to take your life. Did you not think that it wouldn't affect the Pack? Your mate?" Sue's eyes noticed Bella's confusion at the subject of her 'mate,' so she steered away from it quickly in the hopes that Old Quil had missed it. "You knew the secret of the Wolves when you wrote those letters, knew when you went to jump… so why did you?"

"Because the Pack had rejected me, I knew what they were- but I did not know why they refused to speak to me. I didn't know why they stalked me through the reservation, why they watched every move I made, why they followed me from the moment my tires hit Quileute land." Bella replied calmly. "And because, and if you had truly read my letters you would know this… but also because there is a grief stricken nomad coming, and she is coming for me. The Cullen that I was with, um, E-Edward attacked and killed her mate when he decided to bite me."

Bella held up her wrist, the original scar still untouched even by Edward when he had attacked her. Edward had said something about wanting to keep that reminder, so that she would always see what he _could_ have done to her. Bella shuddered as the growls began again from behind her, the Council stiffened as they looked at her.

"The Cullens saved me from the nomad and his mate now wants revenge. Mate for mate, as I was told." Bella sighed deeply as she looked back at Old Quil- his face hardening as she spoke. "I was choosing the Pack, this reservation, my father and friends in Forks… I was choosing all of them over me."

"That was a poor decision, girl." Old Quil replied frostily as his smile widened again. "But as you were not _aware_ of our orders when you chose to end your life then it stands to reason that the Council can't really punish you for your mistake. However, your _husband_ still has to pay for his indiscretions."

"My, my husband?!" Bella squeaked out, all of the wolves stepping towards her as she swayed slightly. Old Quil's eyes were laughing as he spoke to the girl again.

"Yes, your _husband._ You are marked and married under tribal law- bound to the Pack and the land." Old Quil looked over her shoulder at Paul directly with a wicked smile. "Or have you not told her, Paul Lahote?"

Bella spun around to look at the wolves but her eyes never made it through the spin. They closed as her head went faster than her body into the darkness. She was half aware of a laugh as her body went limp and she fell.

The words _I have a husband_ were repeating themselves in her head as she did so.

* * *

 _A/N: Sorry that this took a while, I had to redo parts of it to make it work the way I wanted/needed it to. Thank you again to all of my readers and reviewers!_


	33. Accidents Happen Every Day Part One

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

For what felt like the millionth time in the same day, Bella awoke confused and unsure of where she was or what was going on. Her eyes took a moment to adjust to what she was seeing, which she almost immediately managed to realize was the upper shoulders and neck of a russet skinned and shirtless man. Which one took a little longer and her confusion compounded when she realized that the arms she was in weren't those of Jake, Sam, or even Paul.

She was in Embry's arms. And there were raised voices around her, none of which she could place yet. Embry looked down at the girl in his arms and gave a soft smile before placing a single finger in front of his lips and making a 'shush' gesture. Bella closed her eyes again and began to try and work out what she was hearing. The voices were fighting, or close to it. She wasn't entirely sure.

"What are you thinking?! We can't take her back there, not now!" That was Sam's voice, it was tainted by growling that Bella could finally place as coming from Paul. "Charlie knew she would be here overnight, I made _sure_ of it. You are not removing Bella from the reservation, and damned sure not my **home** tonight!"

"She will be returned, Sam." Billy. There was no mistaking that voice, that was Billy. "Charlie is beside himself right now, he has a Cullen at his house talking about how she _saw_ Bella jump from a cliff today and die. I don't know how this Cold One knows, but she does."

"She can see the future." Bella couldn't stay silent any longer. Embry's eyes widened as he made more 'hush!' movements but stopped when she shifted to sit in his arms. They were comfortable but they didn't belong to Paul. "Certain vampires can adapt traits from their lives into a power when they are turned. Alice could see the future, Jasper was an empath, and Edward could read minds. He was always frustrated by me, though, because he couldn't see mine."

"That explains it," Billy nodded and looked back at Sam. "Charlie is in danger with the Cullens about, that much is certain. And with the possibility of this nomad Cold One I think that it is best if we, ahem, let it _accidentally_ slip about the legends and the protectors."

"Billy, I realize that you are my Chief and with that title the leader of my tribe but I am not exactly sure what you are asking here." Sam's eyes were narrow, from mistrust or actual confusion no one was sure. "Because Old Quil made his words undeniably clear that _no one_ else was to find out about the Pack, the bonds, the marking… any of it. Not until the Council, Keeper, and Pack convened at the next full moon."

"Accidents happen every day, Sam." Billy replied cryptically as he turned around to wheel out of the house. He stopped to cast one look at Bella before he left, though. "Your father called me, there is a Cullen at the house. She is saying that you died and she saw it, and won't believe Charlie that you're alive."

Bella shuffled out of Embry's arms and nodded at Billy before she turned to the wolves to speak. "I need to go home, for Charlie." The wolves all instantly began to growl in protest, the loudest being her apparent husband- when did she get a husband? - Paul. "Now wait just one second, damn!"

"Bella swore." Embry laughed into his hand behind her before he fell into a fit of the manliest attempt at giggling Bella had ever seen. This caused Jake and Quil to laugh as well, though Sam couldn't tell if it was Bella swearing or the literal giggling coming from their Pack Brother.

"I _am_ an adult, you know. Just because I look sixteen to your twenty-five." Bella's words were dripping with sarcasm as she spoke, she fixed Sam with a pure and wholly serious look. "I'm not going to go alone. I want Paul with me at minimum, and preferably another two wolves. That leaves half the Pack here just in case."

Sam seemed to think about this for a moment before he turned to Jared. They shared a conversation between their eyes that seemed to otherworldly to Bella, more so than their ability to change into wolves. Jared finally nodded and looked down, cowed by whatever Sam had communicated in their silent conversation.

"Jared, Jake, and Paul will go with you to Forks. Jake is still young, but his control should be tolerable enough to see the leech without attacking her. It's not raining so you can put one of the boys in the back of your truck, unless you wish to take someone else's car…" Sam trailed off for a moment, knowing that Paul would probably not balk at the idea of putting the 'baby alpha' in the bed of Bella's truck. Jake actually whooped and threw a fist in the air.

"Sweet!" Jake smiled before he looked to his Brothers, all of whom were staring at him. "What? The bed of that truck isn't too uncomfortable and it'll be better than cramping my height into it anyway."

Bella rolled her eyes and moved towards the door. "The truck is at the Black's house, how are we going to get there?"

"I know a way." Paul said with complete nonchalance, bordering on arrogance in Bella's mind. He strode through the door before her and began to strip his shorts off in the darkness, close enough to the door still that Bella could see _everything_ , and the blush that shot up her neck told Paul she had seen _something_ before she whipped around.

"How, um, just _how_ is Paul being **naked** going to help us get to Jake's house faster?!" Bella squeaked, the boys all had to suppress smiles at her obvious innocence. Jake stepped forward and began to turn Bella around, she protested and hit him a couple of times but he shrugged it off. In all reality her hitting him had probably stung _her_ more than _him_ anyway. Bella was turned around in Jake's arms and found herself face-to-face with a rather large and sleek silver colored wolf.

"You." Bella whispered as she gently raised her hand to pet the wolf, Jake went to stop her but Paul-wolf growled at him, his eyes never leaving those of his mate. Bella brought her hand up above his eyes, running her fingers through the fur up and over to behind his ear. "You're so soft."

The Paul-wolf moved his nose down and nudged Bella in the middle of her chest, nuzzling for a moment before backing up and kneeling in such a way that made it painfully obvious to the girl what the wolf was asking.

"You want me to ride you?" Bella's incredulous gasp prompted laughs from the rest of the Pack.

"In more ways than one…" Quil mumbled in what he _thought_ had been a quiet tone, everyone heard him and turned to give him a glare. Bella rolled her eyes in disgust before she turned around. "What?"

"Shut up, Quil." Bella replied before she timidly stepped forward, her hand trailing along the fur of the Paul-wolf in front of her. He was sleek and dangerous, all muscle and death wrapped up in a furry package. When she stood beside him she hesitated again. "Promise you won't drop me?"

"He won't." Jake said as Paul-wolf rolled his eyes in an entirely human gesture. Jake strode forward and picked Bella up at the waist, ignoring Paul's slow warning growl, and put his best friend on her mate's back. "His entire being surrounds you and your health- he'd sooner break his own bones than drop you."

"O-okay." Bella's voice was unsure as she found her bearings, trying to ignore the sounds of more people stripping around her. When she finally dared to look up there was now five wolves total in front of Sam's house, only Sam himself was still human and standing on his porch with Emily.

"Run patrols but not too far out, alright?" He seemed to be talking to the almost chocolate colored and grey and black wolves closest to the house. "I will join you in a few moments." The two wolves launched off the ground and into the woods with almost playful yips. Almost. Sam turned to Bella and the three wolves with her. "If anything, _anything_ goes wrong then have someone phase in and warn us- we will be as close to our border with Forks as possible."

The wolves all nodded to their Alpha before they too set off out of his yard, Bella in tow astride her silver furred mate. She was surprisingly stable on the back of Paul, which made her continue to consider her recent changes in the past few months. Her body had becoming more lean, muscle growing in places she hadn't had muscle once before- her balance was better. And Bella could swear that she was seeing things now as if it were daytime. Had whatever the wolves done, whatever the mark was, had it done this?

Bella was so lost in thought that she almost actually tumbled off of Paul when the wolves came to a stop at the edge of the Black's yard. She looked around for a moment before rather gracefully sliding off of Paul's back. She looked to the wolves with a half-smile before turning to the house and her truck.

"Go change, you'll meet me." Her words were soft as she turned away and began to walk from them. Paul and Jared almost immediately turned back into the woods to change and put on their shorts. Jacob, however, waited for just a moment longer- he was watching his usually clinically clumsy best friend walk completely stable in the darkness.

Bella wasn't falling, she wasn't stumbling, she wasn't even unstable! And now that he thought about it, she was toning, getting smaller but not really losing the weight. She had felt so _solid_ in his arms; unlike what she had been before- she was still just a feminine but a little less soft, less fragile. Shaking his large and furry head, Jake turned around and stalked away into the woods.

"What was with the hesitation?" Jared asked Jake as he changed back into his fully naked self. "You worried she's going to get kidnapped in your yard?"

"No, just a couple things that hit my mind." Jake was confused and still fully in thought as he slipped his shorts on, giving a quick look to Paul. The other boy was standing at the edge of the woods watching his mate walk towards her truck. Every line in his body was tense and hardened, Jake was pretty sure that Paul _was_ expecting a kidnapping right now. "Come on, guys. Her truck is going to take forever as it is."

The boys all chuckled at that, even Paul managed to settle his nerves a little as they walked out of the woods and barely jogged to catch up to Bella- she had been completely right that they would meet her. Even at the pace she was walking it was like a race between a snail and a cheetah, a thought that made Jake devolve into a fit of rather unmanly giggles.

"Hey guys." Bella's voice was the only thing that showcased her nerves to the wolves. "Who's riding in the back? We are all so _not_ fitting in the cab."

Jake raised his hand and jumped up and down for a moment before he began to all out sprint towards the truck, jumping perfectly from the ground and into the enclosed area. Bella scoffed at his showy nature, especially since he didn't even need to use his hand to steady him in the leap. Paul and Jared both chuckled at her scoff.

"Keys, Bella." Paul held his hand out expectantly. She gave him a confused look and smiled. "What?"

"In the truck. Remember? I wasn't planning on coming back to it." Bella's voice was soft and nearly apologetic in tone, her eyes downcast immediately at the sudden change in Paul's features as his face hardened. "Are you even old enough to drive?"

"Seventeen, sweetheart." Paul smirked as Bella's head shot up. He was distinctly aware that he looked _much_ older than he actually was, but then again all wolves looked like that. The change and subsequent phasing made their bodies ageless until they stopped doing so.

"Oh." Was Bella's only response as she continued to walk, her eyes down now. A subtle blush was creeping up her neck and it made Paul want to ravage her and explore both that blush and the body it was adorning.

"I so call shotgun, because there is literally no way at all that I'm sitting in the middle of this shit." Jared said as he began to jog to the truck as well, throwing himself in the passenger seat the moment he had the door open. Paul smiled at his Brother's lame ass attempts to give him half a minute of 'alone' time with his mate and wife.

About fifty yards from the truck Paul stopped and gently grabbed Bella's bicep to stop her as well. She turned to look at him with a questioning glance, his face softened at the slight fear on his mate's face.

"Bella, I…" Paul sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I'm honestly terrible at this, and my fear isn't making this any easier… but… well…" Paul finally just took another deep breath and let it all out at once. "You're not going back to the Cullens after everything… are you?"

Bella looked aghast at Paul's words, her head flinching backwards in shock. She studied the boy, man, in front of her and took in his features. The slight crease of his brow, the lines of his jaw as it clenched in waiting for what she was going to say- his eyes as they stared into her soul, soft and hard at once. Wanting and giving, demanding and asking. His vulnerability was written in every feature, and Bella longed deeply to assuage the obvious pain.

"I still have connections with some of them, yes." Bella replied softly, grabbing Paul's arm as he turned away from her. Only once he looked at her again did she continue. "But, after what Edward did… after they just left me… After everything… I… I don't want to be with them anymore. I will miss a few of them; Emmett and Jasper, maybe even Rosalie… But, I want to be here." Bella took a breath and whispered the last bit, hoping beyond hope he wouldn't hear her. "I don't want to leave _you_."

Paul didn't acknowledge that he had heard the last words Bella had whispered, though they had his wolf howling in complete delight. She didn't want to leave; and she didn't want to leave _him._ Bella wanted to _stay_. And maybe, just maybe, she would be able to truly forgive the fumbles of the Pack and of him. Maybe, one day, she would love him.

Oh if that only could happen _now._

Paul reached out and gently caressed Bella's cheek with one hot palm, his mate gently leaning into the touch for a moment with her eyes closed in contentment. They stood like that for a few seconds before Paul pulled Bella into a crushingly warm hug, enveloping his imprint in the heat that radiated off of him naturally. Bella stiffened for not even a fraction of a second before she relaxed into the embrace, resting her cheek on Paul's naked chest.

"Come on, Swan." Paul whispered almost lovingly into Bella's hair, kissing the top of her head gently. "Let's go help your father, and then you can come back- we can talk more."

"You won't leave me, right?" Bella asked, and Paul got the idea that her question was about both now and later- his heart broke for the sadness he heard. Paul pulled Bella back enough for her to look into his face, wordlessly he kissed her forehead briefly. Bella smiled and closed her eyes for a moment at the touch of his soft lips.

"I'll be by your side, Bella." Paul said against her skin, his voice lowering beyond her hearing for his final words. "Until the end."

Bella nodded and hugged Paul for a quick moment before she turned and grabbed his forearm with her hands and continued the walk to her truck. Jake and Jared had heard the whole exchange, wolf hearing wins over most distances, but would say nothing. Bella was still nearly broken and would take gentle care, from all of them.

* * *

The trip to Forks had been deathly silent, no one wanted to speak or break the silence. Jake had spent the entire time in the back, lounging. Bella had looked back to see her best friend resting on his back, at a slight angle to accommodate his newly taller figure, with his hands behind his head and his ankles crossed. He was the picture of teenaged relaxation and it was nice to see, Bella wondered just how much of his innocence was stolen.

Because of vampires. Because of the Cullens.

As they pulled closer to Bella's house she began to tense. She began to hyperventilate, surprised by the reactions of both of the men in the truck with her. Paul had grabbed her hand gently and was rubbing his thumb across the back of her hand, whereas Jared offered his arm for her to clutch with her other hand. When she grabbed his arm tightly he covered her hand with his in an almost brotherly gesture. Paul didn't even growl at his Brother, though his wolf wanted to.

Bella was Jared's imprint, in a way, after all.

When they turned onto the Swan's street Paul managed a low whistler. Sitting in the driveway were two overly expensive vehicles, ostentatious in their current settings. Jake heard the noise and stood in the bed to look over, giving his own appreciative whistle as well.

There was a yellow Porsche 911 turbo and a silvery white Ducati 848, and while the vehicles were rather beautiful it presented one hell of a problem to the wolves.

Two cars meant more than one Cullen. Shit.

"Don't pull into the driveway." Bella said suddenly, breaking the tense silence with her fearfully quiet voice. "I… I don't want to block them in…"

"It's okay to say that you're scared, Bella." Jared's voice was calming and soft, a welcome distraction from her own fear. Paul was too tense to say anything nicely in his current condition so he was fine with Jared stepping in. "We're here for you, okay?"

"Yeah." Bella nodded rapidly, her heartbeat escalating dramatically with every foot closer to _them_ she became. She didn't recognize either the car or the bike but she remembered Jasper's preference to bikes so she assumed that he was here.

And if he was then the other car was hopefully Alice.

 _Please, dear anything willing to listen… please don't let_ _ **him**_ _be here…_ Bella's inner thoughts were terrified and repetitive. She was praying, over and over, to anything that might listen. Her prayers sped up as Paul threw the truck in park on the road not far from the house.

She couldn't avoid it, now. She had to face _them_.

* * *

The air inside the house was cold and stiff, and not because of the two vampires sitting in the living room. Charlie had long since turned a shade of purple that Jasper was wholly sure couldn't be healthy for the man, and even with his empathic abilities there wasn't much help. Like his daughter, it seemed, Charlie Swan had a muted susceptibility to the gifts of his kind.

"Bella should be here soon." Charlie's voice was tight and muttered through a tightly clenched jaw. He was calm enough, however, and could have passed for relaxed if his skin went back to the natural beige pink that it should be.

"She's not going to be here." Alice muttered for the millionth time, her words caused Charlie to tense up again and gave Jasper even more work to do. The civil war veteran almost glared at his wife for such foolishness.

"Alice, please." Jasper's calm voice was more a command than a request and his wife knew it. She sighed, though she didn't truly need air, and nodded tersely.

Jasper went back to contemplating his current situation and found himself going over the same details in the hopes to find something, _anything_ , that would tell him why his wife had a twinge of guilt and fear underneath that guise of poise and grief.

They had been on a vacation, romantically wrapped in themselves up in the Balkan Mountains of Bulgaria- away from technology- though not too far from a decent seamstress as Alice could _not_ go long without niceties of some sort. Suddenly, not more than two days ago, possibly less as he honestly couldn't remember, his wife had stopped their languid lovemaking in a great bout of grief and anguish- her eyes going blank as she 'saw' something.

" _What, Alice?"_ _Jasper asked frantically as his wife came to her normal self, all sense of sex and sexuality gone from the moment._

" _It's Bella." Alice had tears, true tears, in her eyes threatening to fall. It was rare for one of their kind to truly cry, so that got Jasper's attention immediately._

" _What about Bella, my darlin' love?" Jasper's southern accent was in full swing, as usual when they were alone, and his lilting drawl sounded almost lazy when it shouldn't have. Alice glared at him for that._

" _She's going to die." Alice gently extracted herself from underneath her husband, grabbing her clothes and beginning to dress herself. "She's going to kill herself."_

Those words had begun a frantic set of events, with Alice using their satellite phone to confirm everything from flights to vehicles. She had not told the rest of their family why they were returning so soon from their excursion. Only Rosalie had apparently seemed a little suspicious but she wouldn't say anything currently, not with how heartbroken Esme already was.

The family had begun to break when they left Forks. Bella had become so deeply ingrained into all of them- even the hardened war veteran. Carlisle and Esme had believed Edward, firstborn and the 'golden' child, when he had told them of Bella's change of heart. Of how she didn't feel safe around them anymore, how she wanted them out of her life so she could grow and live.

Jasper could tell from his emotions that Edward was lying. Those feelings were doubled not even three days later when Edward arrived in Alaska _after_ everyone else by more than a day- and with much darker eyes than he should have had. His smell was wrong to the southern vampire, there was something _off_ about him.

He hadn't had time enough to ponder those thoughts, though, as Edward had left as quickly as he had arrived under the guise of finding the third nomad Victoria- especially after Laurent made a comment about his surprise that Bella was still alive at _all_ with James dead.

Jasper was brought out of his thoughts quickly as a change in emotions happened- first Alice and then the feeling of four sets of new emotions. Bella was here, he could taste her particular flavored emotions, and she wasn't alone. There were others, all barely contained amounts of rage, intensity, and in one case guilt.

The door opened to reveal Bella and three rather _large_ figures behind her. They could easily have topped Emmett in size, and from their horrid smell they would also give his adoptive brother a run for his money in strength as well.

"Hey, dad." Bella's voice was barely there, and was scratched as if she had a sore throat. Jasper could smell the distinct ocean salt on her skin and hair even from this distance. She had been in the water, within the last day. Maybe Alice _had_ been right- maybe Bella had jumped from a cliff into the water. The salt and what he could now say was new...ish wounds he could also smell seemed to point in that direction.

But if she had jumped to die, how and why was she standing in the doorway- alive and with three werewolves?

"Bella!" Alice and Charlie spoke and stood at the same time, glaring at the other as they did so. Jasper almost covered his face in his hands in exasperation. If the swirling maelstrom of an oncoming emotional storm was any indication this wasn't going to end well.

* * *

 _A/N: Sorry for the half-assed cliff hanger. I had to break this chapter and the next up into two, this one is already over 4k in words and the second half of this part close to that in words. I am editing part two and then posting it later today. This cliffhanger won't be for more than a few hours, I promise!_

 _Thank you to everyone who has stayed through everything to read and review my work- it has made my day **many** times in the last few weeks._


	34. Accidents Happen Every Day Part Two

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

"Bella!" Alice and Charlie spoke and stood at the same time, glaring at the other as they did so. Charlie stepped forward to his daughter into a hug that Bella felt should have rightfully crushed her ribs. She allowed it, however, and kicked her leg back at the boys behind her when one of them let out the lowest of growls possible.

"Hey, Dad." Bella smiled a little as Charlie pulled back to look his daughter over. Even he had been able to smell the distinct smell of ocean on her hair, and there was what looked like raw scratches along her shoulders and near her neck. They were stark against the white scars on her body, his eyes caught on one he hadn't remembered from before- it seemed almost newer than the rest.

Below her chin, right where her neck met her shoulders, there was a distinct set of teeth marks. Had Bella been attacked again? Or had he not seen those before? Charlie swallowed heavily as the memories of September came flooding back to him, his child so torn up and through the skills of Dr. Whitehawk and Sue Clearwater relatively put back together after the attack. Never said what they used to close the cuts other than 'experimental.' It had worked, so Charlie had kept his mouth shut.

"You okay, Bells?" Charlie asked in as calm of a tone he could manage. "Because your _friend_ here said she saw you trying to kill yourself today- something about jumping off of a cliff and dying. I didn't even know any of _them_ were back, let alone that you were hanging out. I thought you were with Sam and his fiancé Emily."

"I was, dad." Bella laughed a tight laugh, eyes darting around the small space. "But, since I'm sure this isn't going to be pretty, how about we move this out back?"

Paul snapped his eyes to his mate. What was Bella thinking? Why move them outside? Did the vampires smell as bad to her as they did to him? Or was she angling for more space to protect Charlie? Paul wouldn't be surprised if it was the last one.

"Why, Bella?" Charlie's eyes narrowed at his daughter's request, wondering why she wanted them all outside.

Bella shrugged with an actual laugh this time, trying to pull of the idea she had been throwing around in her head the whole ride from the reservation. Something Billy had said struck her like lightening- giving her an idea to end all ideas.

And damn it was dumb.

"Because our house is small. You are tense, Alice and Jasper look tense- Jared, Jake, and Paul aren't the happiest either." Bella shrugged yet again, a smile still lighting up her features. "Outside there is more room, and besides accidents happen every day."

With that Bella turned and walked through the wolves, who parted to allow her to pass and then followed her off the porch. Charlie tilted his head side to side before shrugging and gesturing to the two people on his couch towards the door. Alice and Jasper both rose and followed Bella outside with Charlie being the last out of the house.

Jake was thinking about Bella's wording, though. Accidents happen every day? Where had he heard that before? His face was pulled into a look of tight confusion as he tried to puzzle out what Bella was after. From a quick look at his Brother's it was obvious that they were just as confused as he was.

Bella led everyone around to the back of the house where the grill and a set of chairs were. She pulled the tarp off the chairs and table in one swift movement that barely disturbed the furniture beneath. Jasper noted her fluidity with curiosity as he continued to focus his empathic abilities on her and the wolves she had brought with her.

Two of the wolves held the typical emotional storms of young wolves- any wolves really, and these weren't true Children of the Night. They held their simmering anger and frustration on a tight leash beneath the surface of other placid emotions, typical and rather boring. However, there was something new to his senses underneath those calm surfaces- a bond that he hadn't seen between two other creatures before. It was unbreakable, down to the very soul. Jasper was drawn into that bond, drawn into the feeling of it and the taste of it.

Like a good addict, however, he pulled back from the initial sensual calling. Jasper turned his attention to the third man, the most aggressive in feeling and in stance compared to the other two. The soldier in him recognized the soldier within the other man- something he could respect on multiple levels even in his current state of being.

The initial wave of pure rage and aggression was something Jasper wasn't prepared for- this man was territorial almost to a fault, though a respectable trait in all reality. Jasper carefully dug deeper into the mind of the native man, he truly wanted to taste the emotions beneath everything else.

As everyone took seats around the table, or standing positions near it, Jasper continued to taste the other man's emotions layer by layer. It was like a delectable cake- though more sour than sweet in its making. Finally, however, Jasper managed to reach the sweetest of layers within that emotional dessert.

The bond, again. Only this one was stronger, _much_ stronger. It permeated every fiber of the very man's being and soul, it was wound tightly into his nerves and thoughts. The bond was something that, if broken, would kill the man- complete and total destruction of body, mind, and soul.

Jasper almost shivered at the thought of such emotional ravaging.

Following that bond, though, Jasper was able to quite literally follow the nearly visible threads of the bond to the originator- Bella herself. Jasper wondered if she knew just how truly her friendship was with the men she had brought with her, how much any of them would be willing to do for her.

How they would give their lives without thought or question.

Pulling back from his findings Jasper began to follow the conversation that was happening before him. He had opted _not_ to use his empathic powers currently, he felt that intruding more than he already was naturally was unfair to the mortals involved in the situation. The wolves would have also torn him apart had he tried, he was sure.

"We were cliff diving, dad." Bella was telling her father about her injury and the obvious smell of ocean. Charlie looked apoplectic about it, there had been storm warnings all day so the ocean had been choppier than normal. "I was hanging out with Sam, Jake, and the rest of the guys."

"Bella, Bells, you could have _died_ today from jumping- did you kids not see the news? The storm barely missed us!" Charlie's voice was that of a stern father, there was no true animosity beneath his tone or his feelings. "Those cuts on your shoulder must hurt, kiddo."

Bella shrugged a little, the slightest twitch of her mouth giving away the aggravation of the injury. Jasper found that even though there was blood, dried and fresh from the moving, he didn't want it in the same way. The lust was there, like it always was around humans, but her blood smelled _different._ She didn't have the same smell as the wolves, but close.

Her blood smelled near foul, dog like, but also there was the usual spiced undertones. A natural smell, like the ground after rain or fresh cut grass- something that wholly belonged to the Earth that created it and no one else. Jasper found this new detail both comforting and perplexing.

What had happened in their absence?

"You were jumping to kill yourself, Bella, why are you lying?!" Alice's voice was shrill to everyone's ears. Her annoyance showing through her words, tone, and action. The native men seemed to bristle, their aggression pushing outwards towards Jasper, who did his best to ignore his instinctual need to relax the situation. From the looks they were giving his wife it seemed obvious they knew about her gift at minimum- so the possibility of his being common knowledge was high.

"Why would I kill myself?" Bella's voice was bland, calm, her eyes steady as she looked at Alice. There was something in her expression that seemed calculating, as if she was gauging Alice- a test that neither vampire had been prepared for.

It reminded him of a bible verse that he had once repeated in his brain long ago, from the book of Daniel, Jasper wondered deeply whether or not they truly were being weighed and measured. He almost smiled at the idea- then it quickly died in his dead heart.

What if he was found wanting?

"From what we heard, Emmett called Charlie a month or so back, you were attacked the day we… the day we left." Jasper's voice was probing in nature, something Paul was quick to pick up on. As much as he didn't enjoy this particular leech's apparent _fascination_ with Bella it was obvious, painfully so, that he didn't know what his 'brother' had done. "Edward returned home that night saying he'd left you safe… Is that true Bella?"

The silence was tense, it could have been cut with a knife and served for dinner- it was an intoxicating and heady taste to Jasper. There were so many layers to the emotions around him and each person happened to be delectable in their own rights.

Charlie had the intense emotions of a father who has watched their child be broken, the helplessness of a man who fixes _everything_ but couldn't fix the one he loved. It was the same feelings that Jasper had once devoured in the Wars; fathers, mothers, lovers all in such grief when their loved ones were taken from them never to be returned whole. Under that, however, there was the distinct taste of a man with suspicion. Jasper was pretty sure what Charlie's suspicions were and happened to agree. Had Edward truly left her safe that night?

The two natives with the same bond to Bella were exuding the feelings of a brother wanting so _badly_ to protect their sister, the feelings of men who knew more than they were letting on. Jasper could remember those types of emotions from the Civil War and the Southern Wars as well, the thoughts and feelings of soldiers coming home from battle with scars and memories they wished to forget. It was something he would never forget, and he quickly left their emotions behind.

The other native, the one with the deepest connections to Bella, was barely containing his rage. He _knew_ something, knew it deep into his bones- and Jasper was dying, if he could die, to know what it was. The soldier in him wanted to ask this man, fighter to fighter, what he was hiding. What thoughts, or memories, were creating such rage inside of him. Under that rage, though, like a flower blooming after a great wildfire was another emotion. One that ran much deeper and felt more painful than a thousand lightning strikes at once.

The man was feeling love, and not just the idea of love- not the sexual urges of lust that can come with it either. He was feeling, through memory or just in general, the sacrifice of love. The loss of love, the fear that comes with loving. Jasper knew these emotions well as a human and even more so as a vampire. It was true pain, truer than anything Jasper had ever felt come from any mortal.

The tense silence was finally broken, but not by Bella. It was the native man Jasper had been so focused on.

"I think you know whether or not she was safe when he left." The man's voice was soft and venomous. Not necessarily a deadly anger, but the kind of anger that promised destruction to come. "Or is your _sister_ really that blind?"

"I think y'know by now that we aren't siblings. It was pretty common gossip that the Cullen kids were adoptive and incestuous." Jasper's southern drawl was lazy in its intent; he wasn't trying to anger the man in front of him but he knew that was inevitable. "Alice will soon be my wife, once we are both eighteen."

"How many hundreds in front of that?" Paul sneered at Jasper, who reciprocated with a casual smirk. Bella was shocked at the display, the Jasper she knew had been so stuffy and hardened that she had wondered if he felt any of his own emotions.

"Never you mind, but there are those here who aren't exactly in the know- so why not keep our secrets to ourselves?" Jasper gave a quick look to Charlie, the man looking between Paul and Jasper with a confused expression on, before he relaxed a little. Paul stepped forward with his mouth open to continue the conversation but was stopped by Bella pressing her hand to his arm. The shock of emotions that small touch created was a welcome reprieve from his anger.

"Jasper, Paul- stop." Bella spoke to break the silence between the men, Paul stepped back and continued to stare at Jasper with his face set in grim lines. Jasper met him look for look without wavering. Bella turned to her father and continued talking either oblivious or ignoring the tense air between the wolf and vampire. "You didn't tell me that any of the Cullens had called…"

"I didn't want to bring them up, you hadn't been talking and I was worried." Charlie looked down, not in shame but he still couldn't meet his daughter's eyes. "You… you weren't you, Bells. Sue and Dr. Whitehawk said that it was normal after a traumatic experience but, but I couldn't fix this. I couldn't help you. And I didn't think mentioning _them_ to you would help. Especially since they seemed to completely disappear the day after your attack… it was suspicious." Charlie suddenly turned to Jasper, ignoring Alice. "Your… brother… he didn't do anything to her- did he?"

Charlie's jaw was set in a tight line, his body tense and preparing for the answer he was so desperately _hoping_ not to receive. He hadn't liked the Edward kid, but that didn't mean he liked thinking of him that way. He didn't want to imagine someone who claimed to love his daughter could have done what was done to her. Didn't want to, but was all the same.

"I don't know, sir." Jasper's response was genuine and even the cop could see that. The wolves relaxed for half a moment, but not by much. "I have my own suspicions but I've never been able-"

"Edward would never hurt Bella! She was his _singer,_ his soul mate. His only." Alice's matter of fact tone and presentation of her 'facts' took all the men but her fiancé- husband- aback for a moment. She charged forward in the silence. "Bella was made for him, silent to him but at the same time so intriguing. She called to him, in her own way. He wouldn't have deprived himself, or us, of her."

"You talk about her like she's some fucking object." Paul spat, with agreements being voiced by both Jared and Jake- Charlie tried to butt in with an objection to the swearing but was quieted by Paul's words. "She's a _person,_ alive and full of life… something you wouldn't understand, would you?"

Jasper noticed Bella carefully extracted her hand from Paul's arm and began scooting herself closer to her father, almost standing in her chair. The movements were subtle but there, no one else noticed however as they were engrossed in Paul and his words to Alice.

"I _know_ she's a person, that is _painfully_ obvious to me!" Alice shrieked and stood. She put her hands on her hips and stood in a perfectly graceful defensive stance- Jasper was actually semi-proud of his wife for this. "I don't exactly get the _luxury_ of forgetting that fact. But at least I'm not dangerous to her! I'd no more hurt Bella than a-"

"Than a **what**?" Paul's voice had deepened to a timbre that Charlie was astounded could even come out of the boy's chest. His entire body seemed to be shaking, his fists clenched at his sides. The cop was beginning to debate how to stop a fight from happening between the small girl and this large boy. "Answer that _carefully_ , leech."

"I don't have to answer anything to you _dog_!" Alice growled back, snapping her jaw in such a way it made an audible clicking noise when her teeth came together. It reminded Bella of a feral animal. "You know _nothing._ "

"I know enough about what you-" Paul began only to be stopped by Alice doing something that even Jasper thought was completely idiotic. She moved the few steps between them quickly and punched Paul directly in the jaw. The native flew backwards about ten feet from the impact, a cracking noise like a gun splitting the air.

However, it wasn't a human that hit the ground. With a terrible ripping noise and the shredding of the shorts he had been wearing the man disappeared and in his place there was a silver furred large-as-a-horse wolf. Alice hissed and crouched to be better protected, jumping back towards the woods to get away from the other two natives who were also shaking now. Jasper sat, calmly, clenching his thumb and forefinger on the bridge of his nose.

"Alice. Did you have to antagonize?" Jasper's voice was exasperated and condemning at the same time. "All you wanted to know was whether or not Bella was alive. You had your proof when the girl walked in the door, why do this?"

"How can you not be _angry?!_ " Alice looked at her husband incredulously. "Bella has been in the company of _mutts_ and I'm almost positive that it's _their_ fault that I can't see Bella like I used to! Her future is dark, black- nothing!"

"And you could have easily given Bella your phone number and discussed this with her _later._ " Jasper said as he tasted the emotions around him, searching specifically for those of Charlie. The man was in shock, he hadn't moved at all since Paul had become his alter ego. The man's face was whiter than snow, and his breathing was shallow. "Right now we need to think about Charlie, can someone-"

Jasper's words were cut off when a furious howling split the air, it came from the woods and it was close enough that Jasper felt a twinge of worry. Just the three here would be enough to overpower him and Alice if they chose, so he would have to tread like he was on ice to ensure their safety.

"Charlie needs to be taken care of and we apparently need to talk. I wasn't around before but I know of the treaty and so I must request that we speak at the treaty line for our comfort and yours. We are not here to cause trouble or to hurt anyone, I am asking as a gentleman to speak to your Alpha." He directed those words to the Jared and Jake, both of whom instantly stopped shaking in shock. "What? I may have served in the civil war but that doesn't mean I can't be a gentleman. If we could meet at midnight I feel everyone would be much calmer given time."

"We will be there." Jared replied and squared his shoulders. "I would hope that you and your… whatever you two are… I hope you two talk. There are questions we need answers to, and we won't take lightly to such words and actions later."

Jasper nodded and stood, offering a hand to Bella who had moved to be standing in a defensive position in front of her father. The wolf behind him and the men in front of him growled but Jasper stood stock still and waited. Bella looked him over and gave an apologetic yet forgiving smile and grabbed his ice cold hand in her warm one.

"I will be there, Jasper." She whispered loud enough only for the supernatural creatures to hear. "I forgive you, and we need to talk."

Jasper nodded and then turned towards his wife, face set blandly. He took off in another second and was gone before either of the humans could fully track their movements, and Bella only managed to follow Jasper until the trees.

"Paul, you need to change. Charlie and I have neighbors who _don't_ need to see you, not with all the animal fears going on. Jake, you know our house well enough. I had been doing laundry, can you go and grab a set of shorts from the pile I have marked for donation or trash?" Jake nodded and walked away while Paul stalked forward, his paws creating dinner plate prints in the wet ground. "Paul, we can talk later but right now you have to help me. Please."

It was the please that finally had Paul turning to the woods, running off with a light growl. Neither the man nor the wolf liked the fact that their mate had willingly touched, and with familiarity, the leech. He wasn't a bad sort, as far as they went, from what Paul could tell- but that didn't mean he would just put up with such things.

Not now, not with Bella's suicide attempt still so fresh in his mind. Not while the bond was unsealed.

"What is going on?" Charlie finally managed to stutter out, his face beginning to regain color in a fantastic fashion. He was quickly going red and purple. Thankfully he didn't yell the next words from his mouth, but it was a close call. "What _are_ you?!"

Jared gave an apologetic smile and shrug, shaking his head slightly. "Not my story to tell, sir." Charlie opened his mouth to protest so he quickly held up his hand and continued. "But, if you would come with us to the reservation I am sure Sam Uley and Billy Black will be happy to explain this all to you."

Charlie pondered this for a moment, ignoring Jake running from the house to the woods with an old pair of jeans that had belonged to one of his officers- Bella had been doing their donation laundry for a clothes drive they were doing. Paul and Jake walked from the woods together grimly, their faces and shoulder set in straight and severe lines. Finally, the man made his decision, and nodded silently.

"I'll follow you." Charlie said quietly.

"No, dad, I'll take you. The boys will beat us back to the reservation easily." Bella replied quickly, almost laughing at Charlie's confused face. "Four feet and huge, dad. They'll beat us there- trust me."

"Alright, Bells." Charlie sighed and ran his hands through his hair and then over his mustache. "Let's go, because I want answers and I think I deserve them _now._ "

* * *

 _A/N: I know I did a **lot** of this in a Jasper-esque point of view and that was on purpose. He comes in later in the plot and I had to kind of set up the thoughts and processes now. I do apologize that you guys didn't get the Charlie POV you were probably wanting but I think this works better for later chapters. _

_To let you guys know the next chapter will deal wholly with telling Charlie the **whole** truth, the implications that causes, and the meeting with the Cullens. It will be a longer chapter, expect close to 5k in words (I'm at about 2.2 right now and half done) so please be prepared for that! After that chapter will come the Council meeting with Paul, the Pack, and Bella discussing his punishment. That chapter has taken me a **lot** of time with preparations, research, and writing/rewriting to ensure the closest thing I can get to what the culture would be like. I am not personally Quileute (I have some Native in me but it is from the North Eastern nations and the First Nations of Pacific Northwest Canada- so close but no cigar here) and I wish to be as culturally inclusive as possible. _

_I am honestly trying to respect the culture involved, even the fictional aspects of it that SM added._

 _Thank you to all of my readers and reviewers!_


	35. The Place a Father Cannot Go

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

The ride to the reservation had, thus far, been rather tense and quiet between the two Swan family members. Bella didn't want to bring up anything that could easily set off the still shaken Charlie. And Charlie wasn't entirely sure he really wanted to know the truth.

Finally, however, Charlie broke the silence.

"So. The Cullens aren't human, are they?" Charlie went full cop mode and decided to go right for the heart of the problem, and his suspicions. Whether or not he liked the answer didn't matter, a cop needed the truth. A father _wanted_ this to be a dream. The cop didn't care.

"You just watched Paul Lahote burst into a wolf the size of a horse and the first question you have is about the Cullens." Bella replied with only a bit of sass. "But, to be honest, no. The Cullens are not human."

"What are they?" Charlie didn't care for pussyfooting at this point. He wanted the truth. All of it.

"I will tell you what I am allowed to tell, dad. Is that okay?" Bella looked out her window for a moment while Charlie grunted an agreement. "The Cullens are vampires, and before you have a heart attack they are 'vegetarian' vampires. Oxymoron yes, but it is also true. The Cullens feed on animals, not humans- it is what gives them their honey colored eyes instead of bright red like a human drinker would."

"When did you learn they were… more than human?" Charlie was hesitant again, not really wanting to know.

"When Tyler almost hit me with his van. Edward had been on the other side of the parking lot, and he saved me from being crushed." Bella replied gently, quietly, in hopes that Charlie would quit with the rather pointed questions at this point.

"So the whole time, your _whole_ relationship you knew he wasn't human?" Charlie's tone was becoming tighter than Bella could have ever believed possible. "Isabella Marie Swan! Do you have any idea the danger you put yourself in?"

"Yes. I do." Bella kept her response clipped, she knew Charlie was actually getting a little angry. His face had been purple hued since the revelation of Paul being an animal, but the straining tone of his voice was all to telling to Bella.

Charlie was, for once, actually _furious_.

"Why?" Charlie's clipped question was a rough one to answer. Bella wasn't sure how a single word could create such uncertainty and anxiety but it could. Oh, it could.

"Because they were dazzling. They became like family, all of the Cullens. Jasper is still the same old Jasper, and he still feels like family. Emmett still holds a place in my heart, so does his… um… wife, Rosalie. She may not have always been the nicest to me- but I think I know why…" Bella began talking of the Cullens with redeeming features first, hoping to sway Charlie into a little bit of her view. "They were always so careful around me, always so in control. Edward was a little _too_ controlling but… but I thought he loved me, and I loved him."

Charlie made a noise between a cough and a cynical laugh so Bella actually looked at her father for a moment. She regarded him before speaking again.

"I did love him. Perhaps it was foolish, young love- like what you and mom had… but I let it swallow me- something I will not be doing again." Bella took a breath and continued. "Carlisle is a doctor so he has always been in complete control around me or even other residents of Forks, so there's that. Esme was kind, gentle, and so… so _mothering_. She gave me, in a way, what I lacked with Renee. You're a great dad, but you're still my **dad** … I think I wanted a mother figure- and she was it."

"Sounds like they were good to you- even with what they are." Charlie replied gruffly with a halfhearted shrug. They had reached the Reservation and Bella began to lead him to Sam Uley's house.

Charlie found himself lost in deeper thought than he had been in for months. The idea of the legends of the Quileute's being true, stories he had heard now for _years_ , was hard enough to wrap his brain around. But added on to that thought was also the idea, proven in front of him, that the Cullens weren't _human_ , and not only that- they were _vampires_.

Literally the stuff of nightmares, human killers, monsters.

Yet, for all his instincts told him that's what they _should_ be he just couldn't agree with that thought.

Alice was a little over the top and obviously knew something she wasn't willing to acknowledge- but that didn't instantly mean she was a bad… person? Edward had been too controlling, too watchful, too quiet. Too perfect. Charlie had never really liked Edward even before he dated Bella.

The Dr. and his wife had always been amiable whenever he'd run into them- which had always been rare. One of the few times he _had_ to have contact with the Cullens it had been about a weeklong absence from school for the kids- something about camping if Charlie could recall.

The big guy was scary naturally so the old cop had kept a distance, and the blond one he'd always been with had never seemed much of a treat to be around. Always looked so angry, but she did manage to temper down the ferocity of her partner. Though not by a lot in all reality.

Jasper, though… that kid was something different. He held himself differently than the rest of his 'family,' he stood apart from them in a way that Charlie couldn't pin down. It was familiar- whatever it was. But Charlie just couldn't pin it.

Bella waited while Charlie thought, not wanting to interrupt the processes going on in her father's brain. She wasn't entirely sure what he was thinking, and though she _really_ wanted to know she wasn't going to go asking about it. She had enough on her mind as it was.

She was married. At 18, not even out of high school, to a man she didn't even know _existed_ until September of last year and hadn't even really _spoken_ to… She was married. To Paul.

The idea should be scaring her out of her wits, but it wasn't. She was annoyed, that was for sure, but she wasn't terrified. The thought was as comforting as it is annoying, infuriating. She hadn't even given a _choice_ in this! She had been _unconscious_ and unable to say yes or no, unable to get to know the man who is now her husband according to Tribal law.

The dark part of her mind then reminded Bella that she wasn't part of the Tribe. That her marriage wasn't an _actual_ marriage- that only Tribal law recognized it. She was still, in all reality, a free woman. Tied to no man.

But did she really want that? Bella wasn't so sure.

Was Bella really against the idea of marriage or the idea of not being given a choice about it? Paul was, to her knowledge, a completely cocky asshole. But… he was also obviously caring, and could be gentle when he wanted to be.

There were thousands of possibilities behind his dark eyes, and there was something in Bella that instinctually wanted to know _all_ of them. She feared him a little, yes… but Bella didn't truly believe that he would ever hurt her. He was fierce, angry, and a completely dominating force… but he wasn't unkind, he wasn't rough or cruel… But what was Paul, really?

Bella wasn't sure. And that was the _only_ thing that scared her.

* * *

Arriving at Sam's didn't take much time once they had actually arrived on the reservation, Bella giving directions the whole way. Charlie had been silent since Bella had given her explanations of the Cullens. He was still reeling through all of the information his daughter had given, as well as trying to fill in the missing pieces from what he had seen back in his own yard.

Paul, Jake, Jared, and most likely _all_ of the boys who hang around Sam Uley were not human. The Cullens were obviously not on the friendliest of terms with _whatever_ the boys were, and from the rather… explosive… reaction Paul had to Alice's touch it was painfully obvious the two beings were never going to get along well.

If at all.

But what did that spell out for Bella, who was still caught in the middle?

As he parked Charlie had one final question for his daughter, one last thing he needed to know before he stepped out of his cruiser. The dad in him knew, just _knew_ , he didn't want to know the answer. The cop, however, needed to.

"What is your role in all of this?" Charlie asked quietly, the car still running. "Where do you fit in with the Quileute boys and the Cullen vampires?"

"If I could tell you, dad, I would." Bella replied sadly, looking away from her father. "But some of, well, a _lot_ of what you want to know… it… well, it's not my story to tell."

"Then whose is it?" Charlie inquired back quickly, though not angrily.

"It's ours, Charlie." A voice answered as Charlie's door opened to reveal a fully clothed Sam standing in the opening, Billy Black sitting closely behind. "And if you'd like we can talk inside, the wind is going to pick up soon."

Charlie, visibly shocked and shaken, only nodded to Sam. His eyes flit towards his old friend, a sad look on the older native's face as they gazed at each other. One scared for his child, the other guilt ridden for everything his lies had caused.

The door next to Bella opened and a warm, still half naked, body reached into the cruiser to unbuckle and pluck her out of the car. Charlie turned to argue with whoever it was taking Bella away but he stopped and closed his mouth upon seeing the look on the boy's face.

Paul looked very much like Charlie felt, as if he _needed_ to know Bella was safe. As if his very life depended on the knowledge that Bella was far from harm, close, loved… protected.

Even with the turmoil in his mind and heart Charlie felt for the kid. Paul, it seemed, was a level or two higher than he'd originally believed.

"Paul!" Bella squeaked at the touch, the achingly _burn inducing_ touch, of Paul in front of her father. Charlie said nothing, however, which told Bella that her father either knew better than to stop the young man or was still thinking. "I can walk, you know."

"I know you can," Paul whispered into Bella's ear, his hot breath causing the girl in his arms to shiver in what he would call a delicious way. "But I'll bet both my kidneys that your father doesn't take this well."

"He will." Bella bit her lip slightly, only now worrying that Charlie wouldn't react in a pleasant way to the knowledge that not only had his daughter managed to involve herself with multiple kinds of supernatural beings… but that his own friends had lied, for years, to him.

It wouldn't really matter that Billy had been told to keep the secret for the safety of his people. Hell, Bella was relatively sure that the whole Council had once believed the legends to be just that; legends.

Charlie was a laid back man, but how much information could that withstand?

* * *

The group of people crammed around Sam's dining room table were all tense and rigid, waiting for something to break. Emily had swiftly served everyone some sobering drinks, not that the moment needed more sobering, and had taken a seat on her counters. Far away from the conversation.

Probably Sam's doing.

"Charlie." Billy began slowly after setting down his coffee. It was strong and dark, deep in flavor and rich in taste. Had Billy been someone to wax poetic he would have found the irony of drinking such coffee at the current moment. As it was, however, Billy didn't had time to think about irony and coffee flavoring. "I know what you saw, and I'm going to go on a limb and say that Bella filled you in on what she could… am I correct?"

"You are, Black." Charlie's voice gave nothing away about his feelings, though his usage of only Billy's surname felt sour in everyone's stomach. "She filled me in as far as she could go. Which gave me more than I ever needed, really. I mean, come on old friend… You couldn't have warned me?"

"I tried, Charlie." Billy sounded slightly pleading. "Don't you remember? All those times fishing, out on the lake and throwing back beer… Harry even said a few things."

"All innocent sounding to a father who wanted to see his daughter happy. And he… well he may not have been the _best_ influence for her, given the run off to Phoenix, but he made her happy." Charlie's statement caused low growling from the wolves at the table, more so from Paul than anyone, but all kept their bodies still. It was obvious that Charlie still didn't know the _whole_ truth about the Cullens and their involvement with Bella. "I'm missing something here, aren't I?"

"Dad, I… We stopped talking too soon in the car." Bella said from her position squarely in Paul's lap. The two were sitting next to Charlie, who was doing his best to ignore the younger man's possessive arm around his daughter's waist. Bella shuffled and held her wrist out, palm up, into the middle of the table. Paul immediately tensed and pulled his lips above his teeth in a nearly feral growl, everything in his body wanting to cover the mark he was looking at with his own flesh. Charlie's eyes followed the lines up his daughter's arm, the cuts from her attack in September, to the fairly obvious human bite mark on her inner wrist. "When I ran away, when the Cullens took me to Phoenix, it wasn't because I wanted away from here. I _had_ to get away. There was a trio of nomads- vampires who don't stay put and feed on humans- passing through. And one of them… well, he," Bella heaved a heavy sigh and just said it. "He zeroed in on me and wanted me, alive if only to kill me in the end. So, to save you and everyone else I loved… I ran."

"You. Others." Charlie stammered a few discernable words before he went silent and obviously the wheels began to turn in his head. His eyes were sharp as he scanned the rest of Bella's visible skin. The only teeth marks were on her wrist, stark white against her already pale skin. Bella pulled into herself under the scrutiny of the entire table.

"James, the one who wanted me, followed us. He caught up with me and, due to my own stupidity, tortured and bit me. If he couldn't kill me… he was going to turn me." Bella took a shaky breath. "The Cullens found us, and saved me."

Charlie was fast turning a shade of purple that Billy didn't exactly like, so he metaphorically stepped in and began to talk- hoping to ease some of the tensions in the room.

"Bella is obviously alive and in one piece, Charlie." Billy got his old friend to look at him, the desperate edge in the white man's eyes showing to the native just what this was doing to him. "But the Cold Ones aren't the only thing we must talk about. You're not blind, old man, and I know that Paul Lahote managed to lose his control in your back yard."

"Loss of control isn't what I would call it." Charlie mumbled, barely cracking half a smile. "I'd use stronger words, friend."

"You would." Billy laughed, the younger generation in the room silent aside from breathing. Whatever was going on here was between the two older men in the room. "I know you saw, Charlie. And if I know you well enough, which I do, the pieces of stories and legends have been piecing themselves together in your brain now ever since. You're a good cop for many reasons, old friend, and this would be one of them. Paul gave you a puzzle, have you solved it?"

Charlie sighed and stretched his arms out before resting them on the table in front of him. He saw no one but Billy, just as Billy saw no one but Charlie. The tensions in the air began to wax and wane as the two spoke- only time would tell the outcome now.

"The legends we heard as children at those bonfires and parties are real. Your people truly can share their body with the spirit of the wolf." Charlie smiled at the shocked look on Billy's face. "You forget who I married, Black, Renee got very interested in your people and their culture and legends before she left. She wanted to immerse herself in all of the local culture, to connect herself to the land as she put it. I think she was trying to find a reason _not_ to leave me."

"She would, she would." Billy laughed outright now, leaning back in his chair. "I remember her coming to me for stories and sitting wide eyed while she listened to them. I'll admit to thinking it was one of her artistic phases."

"She bought books, and then left them. I may not seem like it but I enjoy a good read now and then and… well, they were what I had for a long time. I read those cover to cover many times- had to admit it to myself finally that Renee had actually managed to buy some pretty interesting books." Charlie's eyes were lit up in a way that only Billy recognized, even Bella was shocked at their glow. Charlie had always seemed silent about his and Renee's marriage and relationship, but it was obvious now that he loved her just as much now as then. "In one of the books it spoke of the ability of your people to leave their bodies and enter the Spirit World. I don't remember the whole legend; it has been years since I picked the book up. But I do remember reading about the Great Wolf and the sharing of two spirits within the Tribe's warriors."

"Well you're… you're more up to speed than I thought you would be." Billy admit this while running his hands over his face with a laugh. He looked sharply at Charlie. "So, I think, the best course here is to ask what questions _you_ have."

"Where does Bella fit in to all of this? And when did her role begin?" Charlie looked around the table, his eyes resting on all of the native men. He looked the longest at Sam and Paul- both of whom were showing a mixture of predatory, territorial, and protective body language concerning Bella. Although in Sam's case he seemed almost torn, his body leaned towards the beautiful, if scarred, woman in the kitchen but his attention was on the pale girl in his Pack Mate's arms.

"She is an imprint to the Pack." Billy's reply was to the point. Charlie whipped his head back to his friend so fast that his neck popped, Bella winced at the noise. "She is Pack, now. Connected by her very soul, her spirit, to the men sitting around this table."

"Imprint?" Charlie was obviously wracking his brain for information, this hadn't been in the legend books. "What is an imprint?"

"We believed, sir, that imprinting was a rare thing… and it could still be… But it is when a wolf senses the man's true mate- his second half, both his subordinate and equal in one. The wolf senses the soul that can match with its own and alerts the man." Sam flit his eyes back towards his own imprint as he spoke, his smile showing for just long enough that Charlie could see the universe in it. "Bella, however, is different. When we found her in the woods in September… she imprinted on _all_ of us present; myself, Jared, and Paul."

"So she belongs with all of you?" Charlie's voice was low, dangerously so. Bella could tell that he had taken Sam's word at their worth and come to the wrong conclusion, but not knowing how to answer him for sure she couldn't do anything to stop this.

"Not in the way you think." Paul was the one to speak now, his arms tightening slightly around his mate, and wife. They needed Charlie to understand this so he could understand the rest. "Sam and Jared, just like Embry, Quil, and Jake… they feel like brothers, family but not lovers, to Bella. Their wolves feel connected in a way that they felt the need to imprint on her- but not for the same reason as a true imprint."

Before Paul could continue Charlie had turned fully to the young man sitting beside him, holding his daughter, and cut in. His voice was plain, unemotional, and very much the same 'cop' voice Bella had seen him use many times before. He was seeing where the cards lay on the table, judging his hand before he played any he might have been holding.

"You left yourself out of that, Lahote." Charlie looked the young man over with keen eyes. He showed no fear, not even a single twitching moment of a possible back down. "And from the very… close… way you're holding her, and the fact she's not running, I would wager my badge and gun that you are her… what did you call it, her true imprint?"

"I am, sir." Paul nodded once, his eyes never leaving the cop in front of him. They were talking more through their eyes than their words, something Bella didn't understand. The other men at the table, however, recognized this moment for what it was.

It was a test, a test from father to possible future lover- sizing up the man who had captured his daughter's attentions. Whether Paul stacked up would be up to him now, there was nothing that the other wolves, or even Billy, could do for him here.

"Do you actually have feelings for Bella? Or is it just the wolf you share your body with talking." Paul's jaw twitched, something Charlie jumped on. He didn't want to push the kid too far, but he did want to see the truth. "Does the man in you actually want to know my daughter or is she just a mate? To be blunt about that word, mate… is Bella just some bitch who will carry your pups?"

The room was deadly silent when Charlie asked his last question. Whatever was passing between young native to older cop was something between only them, even Sam felt the need to look away from such an intense and singularly intimate moment.

"The fact that you ask such questions about me, about my loyalty to your daughter, tell me that you love her. Very much, if I'm not completely stupid." Paul smirked a little, his trademark. "And to give you your answer, you'll have to bear with me- listen to the whole story, and then make your judgements when I am done."

Charlie nodded once, his eyes not leaving his daughter now. She had curled more into herself as Paul had spoken, and that movement had caught his attention. Bella wasn't uncomfortable, she didn't want away from the young man holding her, but it was obvious that something he had said or something he was _about_ to say was painful to her.

Charlie closed his eyes and sighed, his attempts to reserve judgement being stretched to their limits. There was more to this story than the others had revealed yet, and it looked like this young man was willing to give him the answers he so desperately sought, so he kept his mouth shut and took a sip of coffee, waiting for Paul to continue talking.

"In September, after you called Billy, he contacted Sam- who put the whole Pack on alert to look for Bella. Your name holds weight here, Chief Swan, and all three of us were more than happy to help find your daughter- a repayment of sorts for everything you have done for our people." Paul's eyes glazed a little, something that Charlie noted for later. "We found her scent in the woods- in the form of blood. But hers wasn't the only scent we found in the same area- there were many trails, red herrings to confuse those who would attempt to track via smell, but the scent we found wasn't human. It was that of a Cold One. We all took different trails, I found her first. She was barely alive, having been cut apart and drained of a _lot_ of blood."

Charlie blanched at this, a slight flinch stuttered its way around the table. The younger wolves; Embry, Jake, and Quil, had not been there the night Bella had been found. And even though the Pack had a singular and shared mind the other men had been careful as to what was shown. Embry had seen the most, but only by a little.

"We took her immediately here, to see Sue and Dr. Whitehawk. She needed blood, badly, and due to her type could only take the _same_ type of blood already running through her veins. It's not the rarest on the planet but in a small community like this- with our secrets- there wasn't really anything we could do beyond find her a willing donor who we could trust." Paul's jaw clenched a little now, Charlie still marking the small changes down for later discussions. When Paul didn't begin talking again immediately, Sam stepped in.

"Paul happens to have the same blood type, however, and we decided to run the risk to Bella. He was more than willing to give his blood to his imprint, and we just had to pray to the spirits that his wolf bloodline wouldn't react badly to the venom within her body." Sam waited, Charlie turned with an obvious question in his eyes. "We knew she had venom in her body by her smell. It is something Cold Ones create to paralyze their victims, or turn the unlucky bastards who survive the attack. We think it's in their saliva, though the elders before us believed they were like snakes and actually injected it through their teeth. But with the venom in her blood we didn't know if Paul's blood would even help- Cold Ones and Wolves aren't exactly loving bedfellows."

"I was willing to try anyway, anything to save the dying girl in my arms." Paul continued on, his jaw still clenched. His grip on Bella, however, didn't tighten to an uncomfortable level- something Charlie noticed still.

Paul and Sam then began to take turns telling the story- Jared only jumped in when he had something more to add that he felt the cop would need to piece the whole thing together. Embry spoke once, about the smell in Bella's room- how heavy it was and the fact that both he and Jake could smell it- though he smelled it throughout the _whole_ house. Charlie's eyes narrowed a little but he still said nothing.

The talk turned to the day she had come to deliver baked gifts, goods for the holidays however anyone decided to celebrate them. Paul admitted to his near stalking of Bella through the Reservation, admitted to his firing need to claim the girl he had spent so long fighting against due to Council and Alpha commanding. They spoke little of the Council, thus far, something Billy was happy about even though he knew Charlie would pick up on things quickly. The man wasn't a cop for nothing.

"I snuck up on her, scared her, and she spoke to me. It was something I cherished in that moment in the back of my mind. She hadn't spoken to Leah Clearwater, to Tiffany Call, to anyone… But she spoke to me. It was stuttering and full of a mixture of surprise and fear, but she still spoke." Paul sighed, knowing that this part of the conversation was the most likely to set off Charlie. "My wolf overtook the control of our shared body upon smelling Jake on her, I don't enjoy sharing what is mine in such a way- and back then Jake still held romantic feelings for Bella… I snapped. And there, on the porch, I marked her."

"Marking," Sam jumped in quickly, hoping to avoid a blow up. "Is when a wolf, as a man, bites his mate and leaves behind his own saliva beneath the surface of their skin. The magic involved is something we don't understand fully yet, but it binds the wolf and the mate for the rest of their lives- they become the only ones for the other in physical ways, Bella will not be able to have babies with anyone but Paul now, and the same for Paul to Bella."

Charlie's fists clenched and his color rose to purple for a moment before he reigned in the natural instinct to beat the man before him into a pulp. He had questions, for damn sure, but he wanted the _whole_ story.

"In my fear after marking her I took her to my house, where the Council sent a representative to retrieve me and my Alpha, Sam. We chose to rebel instead of go quietly, Bella needed us. She was weakening, dying once again in our arms, and we would not allow that to happen when we could still do something about it. So we ran to the safety of the inherent magic of our people- somewhere we would be given time to plan our next move." Paul sighed, this part would be hard. They hadn't been given the okay to tell of the Keeper- and it wasn't likely Charlie would know of her from his books. She was a well-hidden legend within the tribe.

Sam took over then, skirting the Keeper completely as he spoke of their options after 'communing with the Spirits' and their ultimate decision to bite Bella once again, only this time to add in the blood of her Brothers, the Pack, to solidify her ties to the land and Tribe. She would be safe from the venom within her, the poison that had been slowly killing her, if she was tied to the Pack in such a way. Their strengths could remove the venom's hold from her, even if it couldn't remove the venom from her body.

"The only drawback to this plan was that if we went through with it, if Paul marked Bella once more with the blood of her Brothers… she would not only become one with the Pack, land, and Tribe but she would also be his, wholly and completely, until the end of their lives." Sam took a deep breath and plunged into it, knowing that this had come too far not to tell Charlie everything. "She would be his wife under Tribal law, even with her unconscious state. It was a law written for the wolves in the old times, back before people were more rational about women and their role in the lives of the men they loved. It was a way to ensure that if a wolf imprinted on an already married women he would be able to mark and claim her before both Spirits and the living- tying their souls together whether she agreed or not."

Charlie took the information in and began to calculate things, his color again rising to a deep purple along his neck. There was much these boys would have to answer to him, but he still did not want to talk yet- he could tell in his gut there was more. He wasn't sure anymore he wanted to hear it, but Charlie had to. He _had_ to know.

"With everyone's consent, even Jacob's, we all gave of our blood willingly to Paul who would have to bite Bella and lick it into the wound he would recreate. Before he could, however, the Council arrived and attempted to stop him- but he would not stop. Bella was barely breathing, her heart beating just enough to keep her alive, and her body becoming cold. None of us were willing to lose her to the venom that was killing her and Paul used that anger to fuel his rebellion from the Council- he marked her with teeth and blood, binding her to Pack, land, and Tribe."

Charlie finally couldn't stop himself this time, there were too many questions- too much he needed to know to see the whole picture. His first, and probably the hardest, was aimed directly at Paul who he fixed with a hardened stare.

"You marked and married my daughter against her will and without any thought to her own consent because you _lost control_ when she smelled like Jake too?" Charlie waited a millisecond before he continued on. "Or were there deeper reasons in your mind?"

"I marked your daughter originally because Council and Alpha had kept us apart, and it was killing both of us. She wasn't sleeping well, losing weight, and her speech had not yet returned unless she was with one of the wolves. I was feeling it as well but that didn't matter to me. My mate needed me, needed _us_ , and this opportunity presented a way to keep her forever- damn the consequences later." Paul looked down with shame written throughout all of his features, Charlie softened for a moment. "I know that was a bad idea, now. And I know that I will pay for those actions, but I will not back down from my choices. I love your daughter, Charlie Swan." Paul turned Bella around in his arms and looked directly at Bella this time, her chocolate brown eyes meeting his own. "I love you, Bella Swan. And we need to talk; about all of this, about us, about the choices I took from you, about everything that has been hidden from you, about the lies and the pain…" Paul's shoulders shook in a rare moment of vulnerability as he let a few rebellious tears slip from his eyes. "I need you to know…"

Bella looked over her shoulder at her father, the slightest of nods came in between the two as Charlie understood that this was a place to which he could not follow his daughter- that she had to stand on her own feet now. He could do nothing more than support her through this, as this was now her ball game. Charlie turned to Billy as Bella lifted a hand to Paul's cheek, rubbing her thumb against a tear that tracked its way down his face.

"I know." Bella whispered as she moved to stand and took his hand. Charlie fought everything in him to stop her from taking him away, he didn't want his daughter out of his sight currently. But there was nothing for it, Charlie had to finish what he had started and Bella had to take her first steps alone. The breath that escaped him when Bella pulled Paul out the sliding door was shuddering and pain filled.

The cop turned to his old friend and fixed him with a calculated look.

"What has the Council done, Billy?" He asked point blank, his eyes scanning the face of his oldest friend. "How much damage has the Council caused?"

The answer was a hard one, and Billy drew in a deep and rough breath as he thought about his answer. Charlie, it seemed, was going to know _everything_ before this all was over.

* * *

 _A/N: This chapter is currently my longest to date on this particular story. And to begin this A/N I want to thank all of my readers and reviewers for being patient with me and understanding. I am sorry that this particular chapter both took so long and ended up so wordy. I was going to cut it into two but that seemed silly, especially with what is coming. Yes I know this story has become a **long** one, much longer than I had originally anticipated with my plot planning. But there are just so many things I want to convey, plot points that need to be understood before I can get to the meat of my story- and I am sorry that you all have to sit through the fat to get to the choice bits of it. _

_As far as my longer hiatus- I do very much apologize. Working in healthcare has its drawbacks and one of them happens to include weeks on end of working 12-16 hour shifts without breaks, and with it being flu season I can tell you that though my overtime is **amazing** and my checks have been nice... my body and mind have been so sapped that I just haven't had the brain power to retype my handwritten chapters and to edit them. However, I managed to snag (read: had to take) a five day break from work, so I have had time to edit and rewrite._

 _The next Chapter is going to focus on two things respectively, and both of them are Cullen related. I will then follow that chapter with Bella and Paul's talk in the woods, and finish up this section with the meeting at midnight. I am sorry that I had to cut this so many times but I want to include the Cullens here instead of **after** the meeting, it fits better in my mind._

 _Thank you all so much, you mean the world to me!_


	36. The Sigil of the Volturi

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

It had been a long time since Jasper had been able to mute his gift enough to be able to truly and completely feel his _own_ emotions. And, thankfully, Alice's little stunt of slapping a werewolf happened to give him the spur he needed to clear his mind of _her_ emotions and focus on the ones in his own head, his own heart.

Bella was alive, that much was obvious. Though, it seemed, from the scarring and the words of the angry native man, Bella's life had been attempted to be stolen from her- the very thing that made her human had been nearly ripped from her.

Jasper's eyes narrowed as he paced the house, his eyes flitting out the large glass windows repeatedly. He knew the wolves would keep to their bargain and not come here but the soldier in him still wanted to keep an eye on the surroundings. They were rather... _exposed…_ here and it unsettled the soldier within him, the instinct to move to higher ground, a better vantage point, was something he was trying to ignore.

Thankfully he was better at this than he had been even a year ago.

"Jasper," Alice's voice barely broke through his reverie and he refused to answer his wife. She stomped her foot lightly, but still roughly enough to indent the floor, and she tried again. "Jasper!"

Jasper turned with a half-smile and bowed slightly to his wife, hand over heart. "Yes, m'love?" The southern drawl that had made many a girl swoon in his day was dripping from his mouth, Alice smiled at it warmly.

"You are going full soldier on me- and we need to talk. You can't go full soldier and talk." Alice reminded him as she ripped a white sheet off the couch. She let it flutter to the ground in the stale air, the dust she had disturbed making patterns in the light to their supernatural senses. "How can you be so calm about Bella and her… her _association_ to such animals?"

"Because, darlin', we left. We ran at the word of Edward without second thought and haven't looked back since now. She was alone and obviously needed protectin' or she wouldn't be so covered in scars like she is." Jasper leaned against the wall next to a window, he crossed his arms in front of his chest and took in a deep, unneeded, breath. "Or were you so interested in the wolves and your lack of vision that you managed to miss the probably literally _thousands_ of little white scars all along her body?"

"I was kind of focused on the only one that mattered, Jasper." Alice threw her hands up in exasperation at her husband. How could he be so empathetic to their enemy? "She's been marked, most likely by the mongrel I slapped. She's one of them now, for all intents and purposes. Her future is gone, swallowed by the darkness that surrounds their kind."

"Or she has a great future of happiness and a life worth living- you don't know what you cannot see." Jasper countered as he watched every twitch of his wife. Her mask was slipping and he wanted to know what was beneath it- this was one of the very few times he envied Edward's gift of mind reading. "You are inferring quite a bit, don't you think?"

"They are unstable, Jasper. Can't you see that? He turned into a wolf _in the Swan's back_ _ **yard**_!" Alice growled a little as she stood, hands on her hips. "Why are you siding with them and not your family? Not me?"

"I have sided with no one, Alice." Jasper replied as he sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his hand. "But the family, speaking of them, needs to be called. And you need to eat. Why don't you run and find yourself some food while I call the family, see where they are and see if any can come back us up. We number only two and they have a minimum of four, possibly more. One wrong word or move and both of us could end up ripped apart and burned."

Alice pulled her lip over her teeth and let it drop so quickly Jasper hadn't even been sure that it had actually happened, but his sight had not failed him before. She was hiding something, something deep and dark. Her emotions were a swirling mass that even his empathy couldn't make sense of- a new sensation for the vampire. Jasper held his arms out and motioned with his hands for his wife to come closer, something she did quickly as she launched herself into his arms into a wrenchingly loving hug. Her emotions tasted real, but there was still a darkness hiding beneath the surface.

"Are you going to call all of them?" Alice asked as she placed her feet back on the ground and wrapped her hands around the back of Jasper's neck. "Even Edward?"

"If they'll answer." Jasper lied smoothly, keeping it in his plans to call Edward. He knew his wife would see the moment he chose not to but he wanted her far away from here when that decision was ultimately made. She wouldn't be able to see his conversations, thankfully, as conversations had responses and choices that weren't made until the moment. It was a flaw in her visions that Jasper fully meant to exploit at the current moment.

Alice smiled and gave Jasper a fleetingly quick kiss to his cold lips, then she turned and jumped from the single window they had opened. Jasper waited until he couldn't hear her running steps or feel her emotions even distantly before he pulled his phone out and made the first call. This one was to the two siblings with which he felt an actual connection- one of which also happened to have the same suspicions of the 'golden son' that he did.

Pressing three buttons on the phone he put it to his ear, it rang once before his sister's rather beautiful lilting voice answered.

"Jasper?" Rosalie sounded stressed, worried. Jasper had told them of Alice's vision and their impending trip to Forks. If Jasper was right about Rose and Emmett the two would have travelled as fast as they could and were probably staying no further away than Olympia, or even Port Angeles. "Was Alice right? Is… Is she gone?"

"No, she is not." The breath that was let out on the other end was in relief but then sharply breathed in again, most likely from shock. "She is alive and the pack, the wolves of the Quileute tribe, they are back. She is tied to them in a way I don't fully understand yet, but there is more going on here than I fully comprehend yet. Bella is still in danger, that is certain, but I don't think it's from the wolves. I think it is something that our presence may have caused."

"You think Victoria or Laurent are going to want revenge?" Emmett's voice from the background wasn't a surprise, and Jasper smiled that at least someone agreed with his thoughts.

"Yes." Was Jasper's response before both of his siblings hissed into his ear, he pulled the phone away quite a bit before continuing. "There is more. Alice knows something, whether it is about all the scars on Bella or the silence of our darling 'brother' when he came to Alaska… or both… or something completely different… I don't know. But her emotions give her away, her actions- the little things- tell me she is hiding something. I can only hope it is benign but I cannot be sure as of yet."

Jasper took a break and let the phone fall to his side as he sucked in another breath, he had to finish this soon. Carlisle would be expecting a call as well. Though they were still most likely in Alaska the young soldier wouldn't put it past his adoptive 'parents' to show up here by midnight.

"I have a meeting with the pack tonight, at midnight. Alice and I are outnumbered severely and I don't know what the outcome will be once this is all over. I don't know what happened to Bella to cause the scars she has but I'm relatively sure the wolves know, that they suspect or _know_ the same thing we do- that Edward attacked her when we ran away. Don't you remember his eyes? They weren't the right color when he returned to Alaska, and his smell was off. Stronger, almost. As if he'd been drinking human blood and tried to cover it with that of animals."

"I remember, Jasper." The soldier could almost see the angry half smile on his sister's lips. "I remember it all too well. Edward had to have done something, why would he have run from Alaska within two days if he hadn't? The longer he was around us the more likely we were to figure out his game."

"We'll be there in two hours, Jasper." Emmett's voice was closer to the phone now. "We aren't far, but I want to stop and feed on the way. You're at the house, right?"

"Yes."

"Wait for us." The last sentence was uttered by his adoptive sister before the line cut.

A weight on Jasper's shoulders lifted a little, they wouldn't be alone. He thanked whatever spirits or God was watching for him in this moment- they would have a little more of a stable footing at the meeting tonight with Emmett and Rosalie there.

And the truth could finally come out, it seemed.

Clicking away on the phone again Jasper put it to his ear once more, calling his 'parents' now. He had been suspicious of Carlisle for some time now, especially when Carlisle chose to ignore his other children when they tried to show him that his first born, first created, had obviously attacked and most likely killed a human. Carlisle turned a blind eye on purpose and whatever reason behind it Jasper didn't really care, he was hiding something just as deeply as Alice was it seemed.

"Yes?" The voice on the end of the line was that of his adoptive mother. Sweet and caring as she had always been, even in following her husband and mate there had been questions behind her honey colored eyes when they had looked on Edward a year ago. She had said nothing, however.

Whether or not that made her just as guilty as those who knew the truth remained to be seen, as far as Jasper was concerned. It would depend on her actions _now._ On what she said and did **in this moment** \- judgement could only come from that.

"Bella is alive, the Pack of wolves is back and I have arranged a meeting with them as I was not with the family the last time- when the pact and treaty were made and solidified in blood and bond." Jasper said as he walked up the stairs to Carlisle's study. They had moved so quickly that he knew things had been left behind, and if his gut told him anything he knew that he would find the paper treaty in the study. Carlisle's property be damned, Jasper wanted, _needed,_ to see it. "I believe there is a threat to her, however, and I will be finding these things out tonight at the meeting."

"Are you going to be alone?" Esme's fear filled whisper broke Jasper's already dead heart.

"No. Alice will be there as she is with me; Rosalie and Emmett will also be arriving here soon to back me up as they were here when the original treaty was made." Jasper replied calmly as he pressed his hand against the door to Carlisle's study. It was unlocked and swung open easily under the soft pressure of the vampire's hand. "I wanted you and Carlisle to know."

"I shall tell him; he is hunting currently. Stress eating, I think." Esme smiled at the notion of something so human. Jasper gave a soft chuckle and his 'mother' continued on. "Be careful, Jasper. I know that you never felt like you truly belonged with us- but you really are my son. And I love you dearly."

"My love goes to you as well, Esme." Jasper replied as he moved to end the call. "I shall call when all this is over. If I don't, if no one does, then you know the outcome."

"Wait-" Esme's voice was cut off as Jasper ended the call and then crushed the phone. That was the moment, the decision Alice would see. She would know now that he had chosen _not_ to call Edward, that his voiced suspicions had come forward and he had purposefully not called his older 'brother.'

What she chose to do would be up to her, just as his choices now would shape the future for both of them. Keeping his mind as blank as he would when one was going against Edward, making no true and solid choice, Jasper stepped into the study and began his search for anything, anything at all, that would help him now.

* * *

Miles away, on the barest edge of even her satellite phone service, Alice stood on a cliff and paced in anger. Jasper had not called the entire family. Whether he intended to do so or something Carlisle said angered him to the point he broke his phone she wasn't sure. But he had left Edward out.

Most likely on purpose.

She flipped the satellite phone from her pocket and dialed a number only she knew. Edward would answer this, it was her. The only other Cullen to know the truth of what happened the night they skipped town in what had probably been a rather gossip inducing fashion. She had been almost sad to have missed it.

"Yes, Alice?" Edward's voice was rough and raw, as if he'd been interrupted in the middle of something either very tiring or very pleasurable.

"She's alive." Alice breathed into the phone, not wanting to speak too loudly. She knew that she was far enough away that Jasper wouldn't hear her- but her anxiety still flared. "Bella is alive and the scars you left behind are rather… dramatic, don't you think?"

"I wasn't in my right mind, Alice." Edward spat back, the rustle of clothing a telling sign that he had been in the middle of something that had, up until her call, been pleasurable. "She unleashed a side of me that I think is instinctually in all of us, the monster I had tried so hard to fight and live with in the back of my mind."

"Well you might want to talk to him- because she's alive as a _human_. Forks is fine, though overrun with wolves." Alice replied blandly, earning a hiss from her brother on the other end of the conversation. "And one of them seems to have captured the attentions of your beloved _singer_ , dear brother."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean Bella carries the mark of two now. The venom of the vampire sits just below the surface of her skin, as does the blood of the wolf. She literally _reeked_ of it when I was near her. I don't know what they did to overtake the venom so completely but I could barely smell you anymore, which should be impossible with the amount of venom you left in those wounds."

"She shouldn't be _human_ with the amount of venom I left." Edward's voice grew dark and Alice smiled. She knew that the monster within him, the real power inside of her brother, was coming forth. This had been what she wanted, and just what Jasper had been afraid of.

"She is. And you have a choice to make now. Stay away and have the truth come out with no way to defend yourself or your actions or come back by tonight, midnight, and call the shots that you're going to have to call to make this work." Alice's voice was commanding in nature but still subtle in its genteel nature. "Edward, I know she was your _singer_ and that you truly loved her once. Whatever you feel now, both sides of you, will have to either be pulled forward or put aside for right now. _They_ will know soon, about everything- about your infatuation with the human girl, the game of cat and mouse, the blood that sang so loudly to you… the fact she has an already apparent and blossoming shield. All of it. You're the one who planned that, Edward. The pieces are falling in place, and fast."

"I know that, Alice." Edward growled, the rather audible sound of a neck snapping in the background of his end of the call told Alice that the poor soul with which he had been sharing his bed was now no longer a threat to their plan. She only hoped it was someone that no one would miss, or that Edward had covered his tracks very well. "I will be there by midnight- where is the meeting?"

"Jasper set it up for treaty line, the old meeting place. Carlisle took us there when we lived here, he wanted us to know the family history." Alice replied with a shrug, her eyes scanning for food. There was a rather nice herd of deer below her. Predators would be better but beggars couldn't be choosers when it came to food at the current moment.

"I'll go straight there, try to stall them. Even with as fast as I can go I will still be a little late." Edward cut the connection to his sister then, and she put the phone back in her pocket. Jasper had his doubts, his thoughts, and his suspicions of Edward- something that worked well for Alice in the end that she had seen.

But now that Bella's future was black and lost from her sight, so too was the vision she had spent years cultivating for herself. This was a setback, however minor. She had to get Bella and the most profitable future for Bella back in her grasp.

* * *

Jasper was rummaging around Carlisle's study when he found it, a box that contained not only Carlisle's old journals but also the treaty written between the Cullen Coven and the Wolves of the Quileute Tribe. As Jasper was pulling out the Treaty something at the bottom of the box caught his eye.

It was a locked journal, written in a beautifully sprawling script that was not Carlisle's hand. The cover of the journal, bound in human skin, was adorned with a silver V sigil, and upon that V was a shield. On that shield there were two symbols, in a pattern of four. A bird and a great tree.

It was the sigil of the Volturi.

Shocked, Jasper quickly hid the journal within the many pockets of his jacket. Whatever this journal held, and whoever it was written by, Jasper just knew that he would need its knowledge soon.

* * *

 _A/N: Yes I am going in the direction of DarkEdward/SelfishAlice. The reasoning behind this is my interpretation into a **lot** of what Edward and Alice did/said in the actual books and movies. They didn't always seem as perfect to me as they were presented, and I wanted to take that idea and run with it. I do very much apologize if this plot point annoys any of my wonderful readers and I will completely understand if you decide to leave this story now._

 _Something I wanted to say though, as I have gotten quite a few messages in my hiatus and I want to address this to **all** of my readers with the utmost respect to **all** of you: I write for  me and me alone. When ideas swirl in my head and I choose to run with them, whether or not I post or publish them, it is only for my own benefit. Do I enjoy your love and readership? Yes, yes I do. I truly look forward to the messages of conspiracy theories (some of you have some spot on and active imaginations!) as well as the comments of love and criticism. With that being said, and with all the love I have for you, I have to say that I do not write **for** you. Yes I know some people totally ship Jasper/Bella or Jake/Bella- and quite a few of you like the idea of Sam/Bella and I have nothing against **any** of that- that is not what I am saying at all. What I am saying at the core and base is this: My ideas are written for me, to get them out of my head. And no amount of swearing at me via message is going to change my mind. I urge all of you to remember that writers are humans too; we have thoughts and feelings, and words can/do hurt. I thank **all** of you for being with me thus far and I tip my hat to whatever you choose: see my stories to their end or leave now. I just beg of you to remember my words; writers are human too._


	37. Goodbye Isnt Your Choice to Make

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

Bella held Paul's hand as he followed her deeper and deeper into the woods. She was trying to find somewhere they could talk, a place for them to be alone if only for a moment. Paul's hand was warm but limp in Bella's own- telling her that he was following but not truly _with_ her at the moment.

She wondered where his mind was as she continued searching for somewhere they could be alone. An opening in the trees big enough for them would suffice, it didn't have to be a complete meadow or field- Bella had enough memories of boys and meadows.

The trees opened up suddenly and there was the most beautiful stream running through the forest, it was babbling and rushing like a small set of rapids. The hair on Paul's neck pricked upward as he took in the setting, this wasn't somewhere he recognized. He knew damn well where they were and there was _no_ brook or stream running through it. Not here.

Along the stream there grew two ancient looking Pacific willow trees, their bark was aged and blackened by nature and time. Their roots expanded outward over the water but seemed to create the perfect seating for an intimate setting, closeness for no more than three people at most.

Or simply a human and an overly large werewolf.

Bella pulled Paul towards the trees and the stream, and for the first time Paul actually didn't let her. He stood his ground firmly, and when Bella reached the end of her arm length she was jerked backwards an inch or two. Her steps became unsteady for a moment and Paul longed to steady the woman in front of himself but he stopped. He didn't want to touch her too much, too deeply. If this place wasn't truly here, then was _she_ truly here?

"Paul? What are you doing?" Bella's voice wavered a little, strong in timbre but still unsure in tone. She was searching his face as he looked down, his avoidance of her beginning to break the resolve she'd found in Sam's kitchen.

What was wrong?

"Paul… Come on, those trees are perfect to sit underneath and talk in." Bella pulled his hand gently and stepped backwards towards the stream and trees. Paul shook his head once and refused to move. He was sure that this was a trick, a way for the Spirits to punish him for what he'd done- for the rules he'd broken.

He wasn't surprised by that, really. He had been expecting something ever since he'd taken all of Bella's choices away from her, and there was just no way in _any_ world that she had brought him to the woods… and then to a place that didn't exist. This was a trick, punishment, and he would revel in the pain it brought.

"Paul, please." Bella stepped closer to him as he fought with himself, his shoulders beginning to shake with the tears he was encapsulating inside. "Come, talk with me." Bella stood toe to toe with the native man who, under Tribal law, was her husband. Her mate. Her imprint. She reached her other hand up to rest on his cheek, startling Paul to actually look at her.

His eyes were wet and tortured. It was a look Bella knew well though she never wished to see again. She had seen the same look in the same eyes many times in that world in between- those eyes just happened to belong to the wolf inside of Paul.

But they were still Paul's eyes.

"This place isn't real, Bella." Paul whispered, his voice cracking as he tried not to sob. His penance had begun, his vulnerability to be laid bare here in this place of dreams. "I know these forests as if they were my own body and I know this place doesn't exist. This isn't real."

"Of course it is, Paul." Bella's soft smile as she rubbed her thumb across his cheek gave Paul little comfort. "I know it is, in my very soul I _know_ this place is real. And it is ours, a place for us. A refuge from the world around us, from the darkness that is sinking in."

"How do you know that this is real?" Paul asked almost too quietly. "How am I supposed to know this is real? That you are here? That this isn't some trick to my guilty conscience?"

"The fact that you even question it should tell you that it's real." Bella said as she extracted her hand from his and backed away. "Think about it, Paul, how many people question a trick of the mind? And I know this place is real because I _wanted_ it to be. Taha Aki, the Great Wolf, told me many things in that place… the darkness… And one of them was this: those who are tied to the land as deeply as I am, as you are, can ask of the land- of its people. I asked for a place just for us, and this is what the Spirits have given us. It exists, now, because I _asked_ it to."

Bella walked away then, towards the trees and their far reaching roots. She was walking away from him, something that made the wolf inside Paul howl in pain- and the man nearly doubled over with it. However, something she said struck him. Taha Aki, the darkness… that _place_. Her words swam in his head as he reeled and tried to catch up to where Bella obviously already was. And there was only one conclusion that Paul could come up with.

Bella _remembered_ her time in that other place. She _knew_ about her time there, the pain she suffered, and the battle within she fought.

Bella _knew_ and yet, had not run away.

Paul smiled at this, his usual cocky smirk stretching across his features as he took in a deep breath. He jogged over to the trees and wound his way through the hanging branches and the dangerously hole filled roots at the edge of the water. Bella was seated against the trunk of the larger of the two trees, its body had made a near perfect indentation for someone to rest against as they sat on the roots.

Her shoes and socks sat a few feet away, her feet were trailing the barest top of the water. Just enough to make ripples. Her white skin tantalizing against the darkness of the surprisingly gentle water. Paul moved lithely as he crawled to his mate.

Bella was _here._ He was _here._ And the Spirits, as crazy as it sounded, had created this place merely because she had _sought_ it to be so. His mind was whirling with a thousand possibilities, many of which he would have to wait to ask about. Only the Keeper would know such things.

Yet the Keeper would only answer one question.

"So," Bella began as Paul stretched his body out among the roots, finding a surprisingly comfortable spot in the indents and holes. His head came to rest on Bella's left thigh, she had that leg pulled into a half cross, resting the ankle beneath her right thigh. Her slightly wavy brown hair blew in a gentle breeze, her smile lighting the air as if she were made of pure sunlight. Paul, well, the _old_ Paul would have gagged and attempted to vomit at his current thoughts. But not this Paul, not now.

Not with the feeling of peace this woman could singularly bring him.

"So." Paul replied as he closed his eyes, resting his hands on his chest. He allowed his right foot to trail the water for a moment as well before he pulled it back upwards to twist it with his left leg. He was comfortable here, in this serene place.

"From the beginning, I guess..." Bella got right to the point and kept talking. "You gave me blood that night in September, you _imprinted_ on me in September… You saved me… and then you abandoned me." Bella sighed sadly, Paul forced himself to keep his eyes closed. He couldn't handle the idea of looking, not just yet. "Then you protected me from Jake when he was mad at Embry, you noticed the wolves on the baskets that I hadn't even recognized when I bought them. You took my offering of baked treats and the first words I had voiced in weeks. And then you abandoned me."

Bella was silent for a long moment; the only noise was her breathing, she shifted a little to sit up more and her breath shuddered once as she did so. Paul thought about anything he could to keep his eyes closed for he could tell by the stutter to her breath that Bella was either already crying or close to it. And he couldn't bear the thought of seeing that.

Not now.

"And while I lived with a pull in my chest that I thought would kill me, and many times I wished it had…" Bella sniffled, the first tears beginning to fall from her eyes. They made it halfway down her cheeks before they stopped. "While I lived with the pull in my chest, the questions in my heart… the dreams of wolves and darkness… You were off doing what? What did you say before…" Bella's tears renewed as she remembered the words that had drifted to her in the darkness that had attempted to swallow her soul. "You denied me. Denied yourself the chance to know me, me the even the _chance_ to know you. Selfish and angry actions caused more pain than you can even imagine. Then in a rather singular moment of selfish selflessness you took _all_ of my choices away from me- bound us together down to our very _souls_ … and then you abandoned me."

Bella's tears fell in earnest now as she spoke, they drifted down her cheeks and dripped off her jaw. In an ironically cliché way, they managed to splash themselves off of Paul's forehead. The wetness felt like fire against Paul's skin and his eyes immediately shot open at the heart wrenching pain not only in Bella's words and voice but also in her tears. He moved, quick yet agile, to be holding her against his unclothed chest. By the last 'you abandoned me' she was crying into his skin in earnest.

"All of you, abandoned me. You _married_ us to one another and then you abandoned me." Bella was stuttering more than speaking now, but Paul knew better than to interrupt. It was not his turn to speak yet. "Laurent came to find me, to see if I was unprotected, and due to my own stupidity I managed to run into him hungry and alone in the woods. You saved me, and I'm sure you killed him… I curled and cried in the woods until I couldn't _breathe_ from the pain I couldn't understand in my chest and head. Then I went home and made a pretty face for Charlie. And you still didn't come to me, you abandoned me again- to my own thoughts and fears this time. I know Victoria is coming, I know that I'm as good as dead," Paul's arms tightened around his mate at those words, a growl rising and dying in his chest as she continued. "I _knew_ that. And so I made one final choice, the only choice. I chose life, _your_ life. Life for Sam and Jared, Jake and Embry. Life for Emily and Billy and Sue. Life for Charlie, Angela, and even Mike… I chose _life_ , even if that meant ending my own."

Bella wanted so badly to beat at Paul's chest, to be angry with him, to scream and yell until her voice was gone and her anger spent. She wanted these things more than anything else Bella had ever wanted in her entire life- yet she couldn't get herself to do it. Anger didn't suit Bella, and hitting had never been something that she went to in her anger.

So she cried on.

"I wrote letters of goodbye. I drove to Jake's house and thanked any Spirit willing to _listen_ that he wasn't home when I arrived, so I left them there on his porch. He would know I'd been there- I wasn't in the dark any longer. I had known for a while, in my heart, that you were the wolves in my dreams… in that darkness… You still never came, even when I _chose_ , when I accepted and learned in that dark place… you still never came." Bella's breaths were shuddering and near hyperventilating so Paul began to stroke her hair gently with one hand, the other rubbing her back. Bella continued through the shortness of breath, her voice cracking. "I went to that clifftop to _die_ \- to give the only other thing I could give to you, _for_ you. And only then did you decide to keep the claim you'd made on me weeks ago."

Silence fell between the two as Bella continued to cry with Paul silently crying as well though his tears fell into Bella's hair and he hoped they went unnoticed by the girl in his arms. He began to gently rock his Swan, still rubbing her back for comfort. Hers or his, he wasn't so sure anymore. Bella cried until she had nothing left to cry, her breathing finally beginning to steady against Paul's chest, though she made no motions to move away from him.

Only after Bella had managed to bring her tears down to a sniffle did Paul begin to speak at all. His words were chosen carefully, from the many speeches he had made into his mirror on the nights he couldn't sleep. He had prepared for this conversation, and thus far it had gone marginally better than he even deserved to hope.

"Isabella Marie Swan." Paul said slowly, making sure she was listening to everything he was saying. "I am not going to sit here and try to win you with pretty words to cover ugly actions, that isn't who I am. Paul Lahote; the womanizing, boozed up, possibly on steroids anger management class waiting to happen is who I am. I make mistakes, I deny things from myself that I want _because_ I want them- I blame others because I _can_. Yes, Sam and the Council ordered me away from you many times, and I will have to answer for the mark I left on your neck and for the choices I took away from you in that moment." Paul pulled Bella back just enough to where he could place his hand on her jaw, gently forcing her to look up at him. Her brown eyes were darkened by the tears still within them and he wished that she could have drowned him in her tears. He deserved it.

After a breath or two of looking into her eyes, falling into the depths of them, he continued to talk.

"I am who I am, and the mistakes I made… the women I've had and held, the denial of you in every possible way I could think of because I wasn't _allowed_ to have you even when _both_ spirits in my body told me that you were the **only** one for me… Those are things I cannot change, cannot undo, and cannot ask for forgiveness from." Paul looked deeply into Bella's eyes, his heart breaking as he spoke. He was giving her the out she needed, even if she didn't want it. He loved her, yes, and he _wanted_ to know her now… but this was still something he had to do. As she had put it, his greatest act of selfish selflessness. "You are the most beautiful person I have ever seen, inside and out. Your smile is as bright as the sun, your laughter as gentle as the cooling breeze from the mountains, your very life force is intoxicating and relentless in nature yet as smooth and pulling as a good whiskey."

Bella almost smiled at the thought of Paul drinking, especially since she knew he was a year younger than her, but she couldn't make herself do so. He was saying goodbye with every word that came from his mouth, Edward had done this so often that she recognized it immediately for what it was. The only thing that kept her silent and listening was her need to know _why_ he was telling her goodbye.

"I am a selfish creature, Bella…" Paul sighed as he rubbed his thumb across her still tear-wet cheek. "But I will not be selfish with you. I tied you to me, this is true, you will always be my imprint and my wife on Tribal land- and I will always be drawn to you… but you deserve much better than me, something less dark and angry, someone who can match the bright light in your smile with their own. I may be selfish, but I can't be selfish with you."

The silence after his statement was so thick it could have been cut with a knife. The tension between the two coiled tighter and tighter with every breath that rose and fell between the girl and the wolf. Finally, the spring broke and Bella brought her hand up between them, rising on her knees to become the same height as the boy, so they were face to face in their silence.

Her hand drifted up his chest, shoulder, and neck until it came to rest on his cheek. It mirrored the hand that still rest against her own almost perfectly. Bella ran her thumb over the still falling tears of Paul as she took a single shaking breath and shattered the silence between them.

"How about you let me decide whether or not you're enough." Bella whispered, Paul's hand fell from her cheek in shock as he took in her words. Bella continued as she leaned forward. "How about we, together, decide where we go from here?"

Bella closed the distance between the two of them until their lips were almost touching, she had moved her hand from his jaw to rest on his collar bone. Paul had automatically wrapped his own around her waist to steady her, worried that she would fall into the stream from her movements. Her breath was warm on his already fire hot lips as she spoke again.

"Goodbye isn't your choice to make." And with that Bella closed the short distance between their lips, gently taking Paul's with her own. Paul was shocked for multiple reasons, the biggest that not only had Bella _not_ run away but she was _also_ making the first move.

Paul pulled Bella close as he moved to deepen the kiss, his need and want becoming a tangible force in their passion. Bella allowed it and gave as good as she got in that place beneath the trees. They still needed to talk, still had to work things out, but right now- for just this moment- they were nothing more than teenagers kissing beneath the trees.

This was their one moment of selfish want, and they were going to take it for all it was worth before the world came crashing back down on them.

* * *

 _A/N:_ _I will admit here that I drew on multiple things for this rather OOC scene between the two. The main two things I drew from were all of the information given on the characters that **are** Bella and Paul as well as the idea that Paul is a selfish and impulsive creature. The second thing I drew from, more for Paul than Bella here because the idea of a compassionate character is much easier for me to relate to in all reality, was **The Vampire Diaries** and more specifically the character of Damon Salvatore, from both the books **and** the show. He is an instinctual creature by nature and watching some clips of Damon with anyone (I watched a few Damon/Klaus scenes, Damon/Caroline, and Damon/Elena to get the picture here) as well as reading more about him in the books I was able to piece together a better picture of a selfish character._

 _I do want to say that I **hope** I managed a decently flowing idea without coming off as too close to a Damon moment in my Twilight FanFic (yes, I love Damon from both books and show and do have some ideas for a TVD fic but I want to finish or at least have the ending in sight for this one first!) and I do apologize if Paul reads as too Damon like, though he probably will now that I've said something..._

 _Anyway, I digress as usual! Thank you to all of my lovely readers and commentors and supporters, especially after the last A/N. It means a lot to know that you all support me even when I am toeing the line of acceptable author-to-reader discourse!_

 _With love, until next time!_


	38. Meeting at Midnight Part One

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

Time seemed to move quite differently for each group waiting on the meeting at Midnight.

For Sam, Billy, Charlie, and the main grouping of the Pack time seemed to move slowly and it was filled with planning and talks that were long overdue.

Bella and Paul, lost in their own moment underneath the trees that the Spirits had gifted them, felt time move quickly- every hour felt like a second and yet every second seemed to take an hour to pass by them. It was a slowly drifting sense of time, like the tides ebb and flow.

* * *

Jasper, now joined by Rosalie and Emmett, awaited the falling of the sun and rising of the moon. For once in his _many_ years of sleeplessness was he glad for his ability to remain awake until the end of time- it gave him more time to pour through the documents he had found in Carlisle's study. Emmett had taken to prowling the house watching, and waiting, for Alice or anyone else. Rosalie helped Jasper and the two talked like they never had before.

* * *

Alice hunted and fed, then she waited alone. She was close, _so close_.Her years of planning, scheming, lying… they were all coming to a head and she _refused_ to be on the losing end of the visions she had spent literally decades cultivating to fruition. Alice Cullen, formerly Mary Alice Brandon, was _not_ going to allow herself to continue to be a pawn in her own game.

* * *

Edward was on the move still, running now as it was definitely faster than a mortal made machine. Cars could be fast, but he could definitely be faster. Something which he desperately needed now. The moon was rising quickly behind him as he sped through trees northward.

Had his heart the ability to beat, Edward was positive that it would be beating fast and fierce. Like that of a lion preparing for the hunt, stalking the prey and preparing to pounce.

With his prey coming closer with every step his smile widened. Oh, how the lion had missed his lamb.

* * *

A not-full-moon rose higher and higher into the crisp night sky as the large group of wolves walked through the woods. On the back of the second largest sat a pale girl carrying what looked like a quiver slung over her shoulder. Except instead of arrows this weapon was words, old and unbroken.

With the group of wolves, numbering only five of their full six, walked two men. A towering native, all dark skin and dangerous fire, and an older white male in a cop uniform.

"I'm surprised Sam agreed to this, Charlie." Jake whispered to the man, just loud enough for his human ears to hear it.

"Better me than Billy, right?" Charlie cracked a rare smile at his own sarcasm. He had volunteered to be sure, but this was still going to be a rather shocking experience. The silence in the night as they walked promised that, the storm from earlier having long since passed.

Sam, large and black in his wolf form, gave a sharp growl as he walked into an open meadow. There was an energy in the air that even Bella could feel, something almost suffocating in its nature- dark and trembling in the night.

It was a feeling she knew well.

The wolves fanned out and stood behind Sam and Jake, two on either side. Paul was closest on Sam's left, Jared on Sam's right. Bella and her father stood in between the two groups, both trying to display the same tense calm that was radiating from the wolves.

A low growl from the two outer wolves warned the pack of the Cullen's coming. Sam bit his teeth at the two of them to silence their growls, and they obeyed. Their fur, however, stayed tight and risen from the nape of their neck to the tip of their tails.

Out from the other side of the meadow walked three Cullens, two of whom she had not expected to see. Bella broke formation and took a step forward out of habit to greet her big brother Emmett.

"Emmett!" Bella's voice broke the silent tension as she sidestepped Sam's attempt to stop her from walking past him. Only Jake's hand around her mid-section stopped her before she crossed the treaty line. Emmett stood directly on the other side, a wide smile gracing his tough yet baby-faced features. "Jake, please stop. Emmett won't hurt me."

Jake fought with himself for a moment before looking back to Sam, the great black wolf nodding his head ever so slightly. Gritting his teeth so hard he honestly believed they would break, Jake dropped his arm. Bella instantly stepped forward and into the bear like grasp of the leech she had called Emmett.

"You smell like a wolf, Bells." Emmett wrinkled his nose as he set Bella back over the treaty line, Jake visibly relaxed a little as he stepped up to her side. Emmett looked Jake up and down, focusing on his eyes. A quick glance behind Jake, to the growling wolf, told Emmett all he needed to know.

Jasper stepped forward and gently motioned for Emmett to step back, the bigger vampire obliging.

"I notice your wife isn't here." Jake remarked apathetically. His eyes were calculating, however, and Jasper did not miss that little detail.

"She seems to have taken your 'disrespect' rather close to the chest, the darlin', and went off to hunt." He held up his hand and continued quickly as growling rose through the Pack. "Don't worry, I sent her north- Alice has always had preference for deer or moose."

"Never was much fun on a hunt…" Emmett mumbled to himself with a laugh. The wolves didn't find his comment very funny but none of them ventured to growl at the vampire's attempt at humor.

"Emmett." Jasper bit the name out like a swear word, his shoulder's tensing. The air was thick enough to cut with a knife and the Major within him wasn't willing to risk a battle with such odds. "I apologize for my sibling; he is rather… boisterous."

"Jasper you don't have to be so formal. I'm still me, you know." Bella laughed, the wolves around her relaxing the tiniest amount. Paul stayed as tense as a freshly wound watch spring as he watched his mate intently. She was much too close to the border, to the leeches, for his liking. But there was nothing he could do to stop that without breaking orders.

Not that he couldn't have broken the order if he truly wanted or needed to.

"Formalities aren't for kin, Bella." Jasper smiled a wider smile than she'd ever seen, his face lighting up with rakish Southern charm. "They are for your equals or enemies."

"We hope to be neither with you or your coven, Jasper Cullen." Jake's voice was suddenly that of a great warrior, his wolf growling just below the deep timbre of his voice. Bella eyed her friend through her eyelashes- he was growing up.

"Jasper Whitlock-Hale, if you please." Jasper bowed slightly, his arm extending behind him to motion to both Rosalie and Emmett. "We must admit to having left the Cullen coven."

"You aren't part of Carlisle's family anymore?" Bella couldn't hide her surprise in her tone.

"No, Bella." Rosalie answered this time, her eyes softening as she looked at the human in front of her. Though she had once been infuriated that Bella had managed to capture the eyes of the only male who had never wanted Rosalie herself… things had changed. "Carlisle and Esme will always be my second parents- but we cannot be a part of their family any longer."

"Why?" Jake's eyes were piercing as he looked to the blond woman, her golden hazel eyes staring back at him.

"Long story." Was her only reply, her voice clipped but not unkind.

"We have time, and there are seats." Jake pointed to the center of the clearing. In the middle, straddling the line between Quileute land and the Cullen territory, was a great fire pit and what looked like crumbling stones.

Bella studied them from the distance. They were chairs, covered in moss and creeping vines of the forest. They were crudely made, simple construction of times past. They were ancient, much older than any treaty with the Cullens- something Bella noted for later questions.

The vampires and human wolves walked to the meeting place, Jake never once leaving step with Bella. He seemed against the idea of leaving her side even for a single moment, and stood between her and the vampires on the other side of the treaty line.

But was that treaty even viable? The treaty was made with the Cullens back in the 1930's, between the Quileute tribe and the coven formed and headed by Carlisle Cullen. If these… 'people'… were no longer part of the Cullen coven, then could they trust them? Was this a time for another treaty?

Or was all this a leadup to a lot of death and pain?

Jake shook the thoughts out of his head as he led Bella to a seat and promptly knelt beside her. He produced what looked like a small pouch out of his pocket and leaned towards the pit. Bella noted that there was a rather nice pile of new looking wood- recently placed. Next to the pile was a smaller one of what looked like dry bark and pine needles.

The vampires stopped short of the chairs when they realized that Jake had knelt to start a fire. Only Jasper seemed to remain the slightest bit lax in his movements. His eyes never left the younger man in front of him as the native gave a small apologetic smile.

"Sorry for the fire, I get why you'd be hesitant." Jake gave a small chuckle. A knowing look passing between him and the soldier who stood in front of him. "But we do have two among us who need heat and light."

"Understandable, Chief." Jasper nodded and moved to take a seat at the forefront of the chairs on their side of the fire.

"Not Chief, not even Alpha." Jake replied offhandedly. Jasper's laugh unsettled him as he lit the fire using the flint and steel, sparks shooting from his hands to the dry tinder in front of him.

"I'll let you believe that, young wolf. But from one soldier to another; you are more a leader than you want to say." The words were not a threat or threatening in anyway and yet they still caused a chilling shiver to run down Jake's spine. Jasper had intended to make the kid think and it seemed to him that it had worked.

"Make me feel old why don't you." Jake bit back with a smile, the tension in the air easing between the two. Jasper took another look over the boy in front of him as he laughed at the joke. This one was a leader, more peaceful than the one in wolf form who was hovering just to his right behind the chair.

No, the great black wolf was a leader. A true _Alpha_ , one who would bite first and ask questions when he got around to it- if he'd left anyone alive to question at all. But he was no soldier, merely the leader of soldiers. His heart beat steady and strong, his muscles tense and ready… yet Jasper sensed in his emotions the small creeping of attachments, distractions.

Running his eyes over the other wolves Jasper noted their different emotional flavors, so to speak. The youngest of the group was the most distracted, and the least like a soldier. They all had fight in them as their instincts distinctly colored their emotions as they stood in the presence of their enemies- in the presence of the reason why they could become wolves at all.

Finally, and lastly, Jasper's eyes met with those of the silver-grey wolf. Here was one who would know Jasper's heart, one who would understand the ways of battle, war, and loss. This silver wolf stared back into Jasper's eyes with an intensity that the vampire knew well- the intensity of a soldier with very little to lose and no real fear for himself. Their eyes stayed locked even as the fire built up between them, the moment of silence passing between the two soldiers was more telling than any words they could have spoken.

Jasper turned to Jake as the young man took a seat across from him. The fire was not high enough that it blocked vision between the two groups and the two leaders could look directly at each other. Behind Jake sat the great black wolf to his right and the silver wolf to his left. To the right of the black wolf sat the third largest wolf in their midst, he had brown fur that looked thick enough to block out any weather.

"My apologies for makin' you feel old youngin." Jasper laughed a little, it sounded almost cynical to Bella as she listened. "Back in my day being young was the least of a man's problems. Being a Sunday Soldier was much worse than being young."

"I'm going to assume Sunday Soldier was an insult back then?" Jake cocked an eyebrow at the leech in front of him. He didn't like being around him, the mere presence of the blood sucker made his hair stand on end and his blood boil. Yet, this one particular leech… this one, he seemed almost _human_. It was easier, being around him. He got the same feelings from the gigantic leech that Bella had nearly run to hug.

Jasper could see the fight in the young wolf's eyes as he seemed to fight with his instincts and his logical brain. He might be a killer, in more ways than one and for many more reasons than his vampirism, yet he had once been a human. His humanity hadn't been drained of him with his life.

"Think of it like the term weekend warrior or national girl- like the current military uses." Jasper replied matter-of-factly. Jake's eyebrow remained cocked in confusion so Jasper continued. "A soldier who had little merit or honor- one who only came to battle one day and then ran, or one who couldn't hack it in the 'real army' and stayed militia only."

"You soldiers are just a nice bunch of people, aren't you?" Jake rolled his eyes as he turned from Jasper to Rosalie. "You said that you had a long story for us, didn't you?"

"I did." Rose nodded, her face trained to a bland look. Jasper could still feel her emotions, she couldn't hide those, but she was schooling her features to give away little else to their companions. "And it would start not too long ago, really." Rose looked away from the fire for a moment, her eyes falling on Bella in sadness. The silence after her words nearly palpable.

"Care to elaborate?" Charlie was the one who spoke this time, all eyes turning to the man. "I don't fancy the way you said that, or the way you're looking at Bella."

"Sorry Charlie, I should not have left off there." Rose nodded a small apology to the father of her friend. She turned directly to Bella and began to speak; only to her, as if they were the only two sitting at this fire. "When we left back in September…" Rose sighed, hesitation lining her face and voice. "Edward told all of us that you had 'grown up,' and that you didn't need or want us around anymore. That Jasper's near lapse of control had been your wakeup call- and that you… that you wanted nothing more to do with us. We were to pack up and leave without trace or question. Thankfully, being what we are, we always have escape routes and excuses planned."

"Just in case you eat someone?" Jake asked the question not out of anger or spite, his voice showed a general human curiosity more than the animosity of the wolf beneath the surface.

"For other reasons as well, yes. Usually our need to move is prompted by our lack of aging- not all humans are as blind to us as we would like." Jasper responded to Jake as Rose refused to look away from Bella. The blond woman began to talk again after the explanations between the boys came to an end.

"It took us all of two days to fully pack and move the essentials, our clothing and the electronics that we could not afford to leave- the computers that we had stored data in and modified to work with our cold skin." Rosalie was explaining things slowly, more for the wolves than Bella. The golden eyes of the vampire bored into the dark brown of the human- a level of consciousness and understanding passing between the two like light through glass. "Edward was the last one to leave Forks- told us he 'had to say goodbye' and saw the family off."

There was a beat of silence that was marked only by the slow intake and exhalation of air. Rose was waiting, watching, hoping… She wanted to see if Bella would tell the rest herself- or if she would have to be prodded to do so.

"Bella," Rose began after the pause. "You smell… different now. Did anything happen that day? When Edward said goodbye, did something happen between you two?" The sudden flash of pain across Bella's eyes was all the three immortals needed to see- it confirmed their worst nightmares and gave weight to their darkest fears. Edward had done… _something_ … to Bella.

Shots of fire and pain ripped through Bella's skin as the memories of Edward's touch and venom tore themselves through the walls in her mind. Her breathing began to hitch as the Venom within writhed and fought beneath her skin, as deep as her very soul. Biting back a scream, Bella pitched forward towards the ground. Anything to help the pain. The ground would help the pain; the fire would burn the skin and memories away.

Bella never hit the ground however, and looked up to find herself in a tumultuous instant- all growling and hisses from all sides of the fire. Turning her head and looking through the haze of the pain consuming her Bella found herself staring into the liquid gold eyes of Jasper. He was on the ground with her, kneeling in the dirt and holding her delicately in his arms. Bella thought she saw the haze of tears in his eyes for a moment, but they disappeared as she blinked.

"Let her go," Jake's voice was edgy and distant to Bella's ears as she focused so wholly on Jasper and his eyes. "You have broken no treaty- even if it doesn't apply to you anymore… You're on the line, not across it. But you must let her go. Give her back."

"I will, young wolf." Jasper replied softly, not looking out of Bella's eyes. "I am going to help her first and then I will give her back." Jasper looked up then, and noticeably ignored Jake to look at the silver wolf who had stepped forward when Bella had fallen. His hackles were high and his teeth bared to show a jaw that could easily rip the vampire apart. Jasper spoke only to him. "Whatever your bond is with her, I am asking you to let me help. If you could feel what I feel, what she is feeling… You would want to help to. Don't make her endure this, accept what I offer and know I wish nothing in return."

There was a tension that could have snapped at a single drop of rain as the two soldiers spoke through their eyes to each other. Paul knew, in a way, the pain that was coursing through his mate. He couldn't directly feel it but he just _knew_ she was in agony. His instincts and his wolf felt agony at the sight of watching her in the arms of the leech- but this leech could help her. Man and wolf battled in his eyes, something Jasper found fascinating to watch. Yet neither broke contact.

Finally, subtly, the silver wolf nodded and stepped back to his position. The growling of the other wolves eased in response but none of them relaxed their positions. Jasper nodded in return and turned his gaze back to Bella.

"Bella, Isabella." Jasper's voice was soft and bright, his Southern accent coming out once again as he smiled at the girl who looked through pain colored eyes. "This pain, this torment… I know why you feel it. He left it there, didn't he? That night in the woods- alone and afraid- when you confronted Edward… he left his venom in your body… That's how you have so many scars, isn't it?"

Bella couldn't get enough saliva up to speak so she merely nodded. Emmett hissed in the background only to be shut up by his wife. Jasper ignored it and continued.

"What happened, Bella?" Jasper asked, his eyes never leaving hers. "Let me take some of this pain from you, let me share it."

"It's not your pain, Jasper." Bella responded in a shaky voice. Her eyes were quickly filling with tears as she tried to hug her body as if to hold it together. "It's mine."

"Bella," Jasper hugged the shivering girl tight and thanked the fire for making him not a complete icicle. "Whether it's yours or not, I am asking you to let me help you. I can _feel_ it, Bella. Your pain is radiating and bright as the sun to me- it's tearin' me apart and I cannot imagine what it is doing to **you**. Please, please let me help."

The last words Jasper said were whispered, but all present could hear them. His voice choked, a hiccup from the inability to truly cry. Emmett and Rosalie found themselves completely floored, though they showed nothing through their faces, as they watched their brother on the forest floor. They had known Jasper had an empathic talent- but he had never let on to what extent his talent had run through his life and this display was both intriguing and intimate at the same time.

Bella began to cry into Jasper's jacket, still holding onto her own body as if her life depended on it. Paul almost took a step forward again but was stopped by Jake. Paul growled at his future Alpha for a moment but was met with the deeper growl of his current Alpha. He had allowed this, and would apparently have to see whatever _this_ **was** until the end. Paul fought in his own mind again, the wolf wanting to take his mate and run- the man wanting her to heal and hoping beyond all hope that maybe, just _maybe_ whatever this leech was doing would help.

"He took me into the woods behind my house," Bella began, talking only to Jasper. He had carefully blocked her ability to sense the other people around the fire. It was a rare thing he could do, get someone so connected and focused on himself that he could remove their perceptions of others. Jasper hated to do it, but it was better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission at the current moment.

"To say goodbye?" Jasper asked gently when Bella hesitated.

"I think… No… Maybe… I don't know. He said that he wanted to take a walk, and I wanted to talk about his distance… he had been so different since my birthday." Bella's voice was slowly, achingly slowly, gaining strength as she talked. But as her voice grew in strength, so too did her pain. "He told me that his world 'wasn't for me' and that what happened on my birthday was 'to be expected.' I told him it was nothing, an accident, but he insisted that he didn't want me to come."

Rosalie snarled softly, Emmett bringing his arm up around her shoulder. Rosalie had not liked the girl originally for managing to capture the attention of the one male who had never once, even for a moment, find _her_ attractive when all others had- but she had grown to care for the girl who saw past the fangs and blood diet to the humanity left within.

The wolves, however, found themselves hung on a single sentence and all wanted to know just what had happened on Bella's birthday the year prior. However, now was not the time to ask and they waited silently, barely patiently, to know.

"I was stupid, Jasper. I attacked Edward, telling him he'd broken his promise to me in Phoenix. Told him that I must have only been a distraction, a lesson in self-control… I made it sound like he had never loved me at all… like I had only been a toy to him." Bella leaned away from Jasper's chest and looked at him in the eyes once more. There was a fire beneath the brown that the vampire had not seen in so long, it made his dead heart beam.

"That's an understandable thing, Bella." Jasper's voice was light, almost joking. "I would have questioned that too, were it me. But… Bella, this is not what hurts you. Words did not scar your body so magnificently."

"I angered him, Jasper. Past the point of his control. He told me…" Bella swallowed, and grit her teeth. "He told me that he would show me 'just what I was,' and drug me through the woods. I don't know how far away he took me, or if he took me away at all really… It was such a blur… When we finally stopped running, he dropped me long enough to rip apart some of my clothes- he used the pieces to tie me to a tree. My feet couldn't touch the ground but I don't know how high I was really."

The pain rippled against the connection Jasper had opened between the two of them. His body was on fire now, the memories of the pain and venom seeping through the sieve that was his empathy. He clenched his jaw and squared himself against the waves.

"What happened, Bella? You can trust me; I want to help you. Let me help you, let me in…" Jasper trailed off and left his last statement open. Bella searched his face, looking for something. She seemed to find it finally and brought one of her hands up to trace a barely visible white line that ran down one of his cheeks to his throat. It was a souvenir of sorts of a time long since passed- a time he would never forget.

"You know what happened, Jasper." Bella replied softly, her fingertips still tracing the scar. Paul was nearly _screaming_ in his head behind her but she didn't notice. Something tugged at her chest, a thought in the back of her mind, but Jasper held his sway still. "He called me a lamb for slaughter… And I willingly allowed it. I knew, underneath the pain and shock, I just _knew_ that in that state Edward would have had nothing against slaughtering the entire **town**. He would have started with those close to me- Charlie, Angela, Jake… all of them."

"You offered yourself to him, didn't you?" Jasper's eyes widened slightly as he asked. This would complicate things but he had to know. "You offered your blood and body to him, to save everyone."

"Yes, I did." Bella's mind began to break a little, the pain flowing between the two of them was almost visible to the naked eye of the watching crowd. "I wanted to save them, my father and friends. I didn't know what else to do, Jasper. He... He didn't bite me, ever. He seemed to be making _sure_ not to, really. He just cut me, thousands of times... hundreds of thousands... I lost track, the pain got too much to bear and I lost myself for a while... The next time I came to at all I was being lowered from the tree. Edward was so gentle then, caring almost... His chuckle was still dark and foreboding, his eyes still darkened and starving... Those eyes..." Bella clenched her eyes and jaw shut as she remembered Edward's eyes.

"He left you in the woods?" Jasper couldn't hide the surprise from his tone. The amount of cuts on Bella's body, the blood she must have lost, the venom that was left beneath her skin even _now_ should have stolen away her life. And yet here she was, impossibly sitting almost in his lap with her heart beating and as alive as she had ever been. There was a piece missing here, a piece that he was positive the wolves held.

"Yes, he did. I don't remember a lot from there, though... The next thing I can really recall is waking in the hospital." Bella was lying now, but she had to. She didn't know if her Pack trusted the vampires enough to know just _what_ had happened to her, and how she was saved. It wasn't her story to tell in a twisted way, so she kept her mouth shut about it.

Jasper kept feeding her pain into himself, it crackled and burned like fire beneath his skin. But that pain and its fire fueled his drive, his insatiable _need_ to protect Bella from the monster he now knew Edward had truly become. Lessening his hold on Bella, Jasper began to let her have her perceptions of the wolves and his siblings back. All were silent, all were tense- the truth had come from Bella's own lips now.

Whether or not other's had heard it before- this was a new thing. She had _admitted_ to giving herself to Edward in place of everyone else. Paul was seething on the inside, something Jasper noted as he began to pull away from Bella and stood the two of them up. Bella smiled at him and he could feel the relief under the lessened pain. She wasn't whole by any means- Jasper couldn't offer that- but she was better.

One less crack in the armor.

* * *

 _A/N: Yes, yes, I know. Bad Silas! Bad for not updating quicker! Bad for making this chapter nearly 5k in words! Bad for not even finishing the **whole** chapter! (It is finished, I am just re-editing the next section because I realized I accidentally left open a rather Russian-sized plot hole later on... not good, but yay for proofreading!) I promise the next part of this (chapter 39) will be up in less than 24 hours! I do have to work later today, 4.27, so it will probably be **after** that however._

 _I want to thank all of my readers and commentors (public and private) and I am happy to announce that my life has taken a turn for the better *finally* and that I will be able to update more often now! For those who are curious I have a rough draft of this entire story and currently (barring having to cut apart more chapters due to length) it is at 60 chapters. It is long, I know, and I won't be angry if not all of you make it through with me till the end._

 _anyway, thank you all again! Much love from me to you!_


	39. Meeting at Midnight Part Two

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

 _"Yes, he did. I don't remember a lot from there, though... The next thing I can really recall is waking in the hospital." Bella was lying now, but she had to. She didn't know if her Pack trusted the vampires enough to know just_ _what_ _had happened to her, and how she was saved. It wasn't her story to tell in a twisted way, so she kept her mouth shut about it._

* * *

The wolves had stood silent during Jasper's moment with Bella. Their instincts howled through their minds, the men within the large furry bodies having to fight for supremacy of their own bodies. Inside their heads a war waged between the Pack, far from the prying ears of the vampires at their fireside.

 **Jared:** _I don't_ _ **know**_ _what he did but he obviously didn't hurt her! She is fine, we've all seen to that, we can all feel it. Attacking them now does nothing when they helped. Besides, I don't feel anything from them- besides the usual 'must kill leeches' shit._

 **Quil:** _Well if that is our_ _ **instinct**_ _then I say we follow it! Bella just admitted that their supposed 'brother' nearly bled her dry like a fucking animal in the woods! Who's to say that they won't?!_

 **Embry:** _This is pointless, guys. We don't know what they offer, what kind of peace they want, or what their intentions truly are yet. Lack of information is going to put us in a hard place and lead to rash decisions, and I don't want to destroy a potential ally. Or have you forgotten the red-headed leech that's been stalking around?_

 **Jared:** _Usually I wouldn't agree with the kid, but this time Embry kinda makes some sense. I mean, I'm all for following my instincts if we need to… but maybe we should see what they offer first? See if having them around is worth a damn._

 **Quil:** _So, you'll keep them around if their_ _ **useful**_ _\- screw what they_ _ **are**_ _?! That's fucked, man. That is so fucking fucked!_

 **Sam:** _Stop this!_

Sam growled aloud and in his mind-speak as he used his Alpha command to stop the fighting of his Pack. Jake, who couldn't even _hear_ the voice, switched his stance to a stock-still military preparedness. The vampires all looked towards the wolves with curious faces, Rosalie finding herself _missing_ Edward for a moment- he would have translated whatever their growled and snarls were to them.

It was a handicap now, not having a mind reader.

 **Sam:** _Fighting about this is_ _ **pointless**_ _. Paul, she's your imprint more than any of ours… I hate to say this, especially without her consent once again… but what should we do?_

 **Paul:** _Well, the one… He's different. That one is Jasper, and even though Bella_ _ **told**_ _us he can manipulate emotions, fuck with our minds… I don't feel it happening. She said it was obvious, that you would_ _ **know**_ _that your emotions were being fucked with but at the same time not be able to do anything about it. It's not happening here. He's being… almost_ _human_ _._

 **Sam:** _So, what do you think we should do?_

 **Paul:** _Let's wait. And see. Watch, and learn. He looks like he's seen his fair share of battles, I mean_ _ **look**_ _at his skin. Bella might not see all of them but he looks like a scarred neon sign to me. He's seen battle, and a_ _ **lot**_ _of it. So, let's see what he wants, what he offers, and most importantly what he is or isn't to Bella._

 **Quil:** _I don't like it._

 **Embry:** _Don't think you get a choice, man. I vote with Paul, it makes sense._

 **Sam:** _For now, then, these three are not to be attacked. All other Cullen coven leeches will be evaluated upon their arrival, if they come at all._

 **Paul:** _And the mind reader? Douchetard or whatever his name is…_

 **Sam:** _Not an immediate kill. His family will have the right to judge or attempt to give character for if he comes as well. Incapacitate, but do not kill._

 **Paul:** _You're going to give them the chance to_ _ **defend**_ _the fucking leech that almost_ _ **killed**_ _Bella? That's crossing a line, Sam._

Paul was suddenly crouched and growling, his snarls aimed at his Alpha. Sam, however, didn't seemed fazed in the slightest and merely stood still and waited. Jasper tasted the emotions around him, slowly and carefully, not shocked at the aggression coming from the silver wolf. He was surprised by the assuredness from the black wolf. Whatever they were about to fight over the black wolf felt so strongly in his position that it was affecting his emotions.

"We need to talk, please take a seat." Jake's voice held a commanding tone as wolves and vampires turned to listen. "Jasper Whitlock-Hale, I ask you as representative of my People and my Pack to please come forth and lay down aggressions."

Jake felt the power in the words he was saying, though he didn't know exactly where those words had even come from. Bella looked from Jasper to Rose then to Emmett- all vampires seemed almost hesitant to sit back down on the chairs. Jake stood still but tense, the wolves behind him still in battle readiness, his eyes watching over the fire.

Bella moved first, taking a seat directly on the treaty line, the only chair neither group had seemed to even dare touch. Looking from wolves to vampires, she waited and watched. Slowly the groups began to relax and sit on either side of her; both groups had eyes on the human, their adversaries, and the fire.

"Jacob Black, grandson of the past Chief Ephraim Black, protector of Quileute land and People. I, Jasper Whitlock-Hale seek treaty and understanding with your People and Pack; we offer ourselves to the judgement of your great wisdom, and ask only to be allowed to leave with our undead immortality should we fail your judgement but be deemed worthy of such mercies."

The words were old, and had once been uttered in the very same place by a rather different vampire. Jake smiled, his eyes warming as the mirthful laughter fought its way out of his throat. Bella cocked her head in confusion as she began to wonder whether her friend had gone completely insane- and from the looks of his Pack it was obvious she wasn't the only one with that thought running through their brain.

"You've been reading some old documents, haven't you?" Jake laughed as he wiped tears from his eyes. The only tic in Jasper's calm was a small narrowing of his eyes, so fast that only the wolves picked up on it. The southern vampire cracked a smile. He nodded his head to one side and pulled a tattered journal from his coat pocket, followed by a small framed piece of yellowed paper.

"The original treaty and my foster father's journal from the time. I wanted to do this as properly as I could, and found myself some help from generations past." Jasper shrugged as he handed the items to Bella, who passed them along to Jake. She wanted to take a closer look but kept her curiosities at bay, she knew the wolves would let her see them if they kept them- and it wasn't like Emmett would ever hide anything from her. She was covered either way this went.

Jake looked over the document in his hands, it was laid in an ornate frame- wood with carvings of wolves and the moon across it. It was a nice tribute, in a way, to the tribe and its People- though Jake couldn't help but wonder just _who_ the doctor had do the carvings, as they were done by hand and very well crafted. Probably another leech, a thought that made Jake inwardly snarl.

"Thank you for bringing this, and for following it to a 'T' as far as this meeting and the potential of another treaty, revised for your new… family." Jake nodded while he spoke, handing the frame back to Bella. She held on to it, unsure of what to do with it. Jake looked Jasper in the eye and continued. "Are you ready to be judged, Jasper Whitlock-Hale?"

"As ready as one can ever be to face possible death." The southern vampire smiled as he stood. The two seemed so _natural_ , as if there was no enmity between the pale bloodsucker and the tanned native. "Per Carlisle's journal it was the wolves who chose whether they were worthy of the treaty, will it be the same this time?"

"Yes," Jake walked to the far side of the fire, Sam and Jared moving to join him. "I will give my own inspection of your worth as well, but that is separate of them."

Jasper motioned for Rosalie and Emmett to follow him as he walked to the treaty line where Jake and the wolves stood. Bella could see in the lines on Rose's face that she honestly felt fear, though Emmett looked more like this was a game. As if he was certain that they would be accepted for another treaty. The air was thick and felt like death to Bella and Charlie, unable to get away from the intensity between the two creatures.

Jasper walked forward and held his arms outward, palms up to the sky, his face placid and free of any aggression or fear. Jake stepped forward towards the vampire, his hand encircled around a small figurine, Bella couldn't make it out from her seat. The vampire and the wolf looked at each other for long moments, unsaid words passing from Jasper's honey colored eyes to Jake's dark brown ones. Bella could _feel_ the change in her Pack as they continued to wait in silence.

Whatever this was, it went far beyond the surface.

"Lay bare yourself, Jasper Whitlock-Hale." Jake whispered as he began to almost trace Jasper's body with the hand that held the little trinket. Bella was dying to find out what it was but knew better than to move from her chair. "Do you have anything you wish to declare of your intentions?" Jasper shook his head, silent. "Do you harbor any ill intentions towards Quileute land or the People?" Again, Jasper shook his head. "Finally, Jasper Whitlock-Hale, will you submit yourself for trial and judgement should you attack and harm a human, whether pale-face or of the People?" Jasper shook his head for the final time, Jake stopped moving his hand and Bella's focus on the trinket was lost for a moment. Jake looked Jasper over and nodded to him. "Then step forward and judge be judged by the Wolf."

As Jasper stepped forward it seemed like a million things happened at once, none of which even the immortals could follow. The air suddenly blazed bright as a Summer morning, the small charm in Jacob's hand illuminating the whole meadow with a bright and blindingly white glow. Gusts of wind ran through the meadow as two blurred figures ran the course around the wolves and vampires, heading straight towards the human girl sitting at the head of the fire.

Yet as suddenly as the light had come, it was gone. The trinket lay on the ground glowing like a coal, red now. Jake's stance was defensive as he whipped around to a sight that sunk his heart in his chest. A howl ringing through the night as reality set in for the wolves and the remaining two vampires standing at the fire.

Bella was _not_ in her chair anymore.

* * *

Barely fifty yards away from the fire, enough to be darkened by the night, Bella found herself clutching the iron hard shoulders of the slightly singed vampire who held her within his arms. For someone who had seemed so relaxed, Jasper had one hell of a reaction time.

Bella wished he could eat, because she owed him some serious cookies right now.

"Brother, how nice to see you." Edward's smooth voice was taunting as he leaned against the trunk of the tree where he'd taken refuge. He was holding his arm, a fresh bite marring the skin behind a fresh hole in the expensive cloth. "Could have been nicer to my clothes though."

"Nice enough, Edward." Jasper bared his teeth at the once Golden Boy. His eyes weren't the right color again. A muted honey, bastardized by the red that the animal blood couldn't fully hide. Edward had been strong before, but his speed and strength a mere moment ago gave his human-drinking away just the same. "I was beginning to think you'd left me, Alice. Nice to see where you stand on this."

"I stand where I've always stood, Jasper." Alice's voice nearly dripped with venom as she talked. "You're the one who has been blinded and lost the way."

"Can't lose a way I never had, love." Jasper began to slowly back towards the fire, the wolves now recovered and growling their way towards where the siblings stood. He was surprised at the slow pace of the wolves, expecting them to have attacked by now.

"Bella," Edward spoke directly to the girl now, his eyes falling on the human in his 'brother's' arms. Bella closed her eyes and tried to block him out, her body tensing in pain at the effort. Jasper wrapped his arm just a little tighter around her waist as he stepped again. "Isabella…"

Edward drew the name out in a soft and almost sing-song like voice. Bella ground her teeth to stop from screaming. His voice was _burning_ her from the inside out!

Jasper turned the girl half into his chest to cover one ear and covered the other with his hand. He knew what his brother was doing and the soldier was going to do everything he could to stop Bella from succumbing to the calls of the man who had bound himself to her through blood and pain, to the brink of death and back.

It was a rare occurrence, something even Carlisle had believed to be a myth of the Volturi, but enthrallment seemed to be very real. Jasper could feel it from her, the want to follow the voice and the fight to ignore it. Bella was strong but not unbreakable.

A sudden surge of power from Bella caught Jasper off guard as the girl began to seize in his arms, Edward's continued repetitions of her name hanging through the air. The approaching wolves, followed by Rose and Emmett, were suddenly stopped. As if they had hit an invisible barrier.

Jake raised his fist and beat against the air in terror, _Bella_ was in there! But what in the Spirits had even happened?! Could Alice or Edward have a power they hadn't shown Bella before? Or was this Jasper? Jake growled as he continued to beat against the air, the other wolves following suit as they tried to break whatever was holding them back from Jasper and Bella.

Charlie stood back with Emmett, although not by choice. The larger vampire was restraining the cop with ease and Quil was more than happy to let him do so. Emmett had made no move to hurt Charlie, merely stop him from running forward into the unknown situation behind the barrier.

"How quaint, little Bella." Edward crooned at her, his voice permeating her mind. She was crying from the pain of fighting it. "You are a powerful little girl, aren't you? Is this the same shield that has kept me out all this time?"

Edward held his hand out in the air, beckoning. He waited with his eyes set on Bella. It would only be a matter of time before the girl stepped forward. And all he needed was her out of Jasper's reach.

Alice, it seemed, was impatient however. She took a running leap from the branch she had been standing and, streaking like a colorful bullet, she lunged at Jasper with a hiss. Her mind was a swirling pit and even Edward had a hard time picking anything up from her, but what he saw was enough. He let Alice go without a second thought- her lunge would hopefully be enough to knock Jasper off balance.

Bella fell forward as Jasper took the full force of his nimble wife's body into his side. The wolves growled and beat the almost shimmering air even harder as Bella lay there, unguarded and defenseless. Edward crooned her name again as she tried to cover her ears, screaming her tears to the night.

"Isabella…" Edward made her name into a song, his hand still held out into the night. Bella's heart raced as she looked up for the first time, directly into Edward's too dark eyes. He smiled as hers went almost blank, her body relaxing.

This moment had taken so much waiting, so much pain and blood. He hadn't _wanted_ to torture her, not the side of Edward that still had humanity. He wanted her beneath him, literally and metaphorically. She had already shown signs of a possible gift with her ability to block his so well, and after reading some of Carlisle's journals on the taboo subject of enthrallment and what it could mean… Well, the monster within him had planned a field day.

Had Edward enjoyed the taste of her blood? Yes, he had. It was delicious and delicate, like a fine wine aged for centuries to its purest and smoothest taste point. Bella still smelled delicious to him, though somewhat changed by her time with the _dogs_.

That was something he would have to remedy as soon as he could. But now he had to focus on finishing the binding of slave to Master- he had to focus on getting Bella to come to him. Without that, depending on the strength the girl had to hold the shield, he was a dead man.

Well, deader.

"Bella, my love," A single wolf howled in pain at those words, Edward paid the thoughts behind it no mind. The wolves meant nothing. "Bella, come to me."

To the horror of everyone, Bella stood up from the damp earth. Jasper and Alice stopped fighting to watch, the wolves stopped trying to break the barrier, the air stood still and silent in the forest. Never taking her eyes from Edwards, Bella stepped forward. The smile on the vampire's face widened in anticipation.

"Yes, Bella." Edward crooned in a loving way, his eyes boring holes into hers. "Come to me, love. Let me end the pain, be with me and let me end the pain."

Bella's steps to Edward were slow and torturous as her body tensed with each passing inch towards her tormentor. She slipped herself from her shoes as she walked, bare feet against the ground in the dewy grass.

Jasper watched in pain, partially from the sight and partially from Alice who held him in such a way that were he to attempt escape incorrectly she would rip him apart.

He'd heal, but not in time.

"Edward?" Bella's voice was barely a whisper as she stood within arm's reach of him. He did not move to touch her, though. She looked from his hand to his face. "Is it really you?"

"Yes, love. I came back." Edward lowered his arm and closed the distance between the two of them. He reached and encircled the girl in his arms, pulling her to his chest. "I am here for you. We are together again."

"No," Bella whispered as tears fell down her face. She placed her palms against Edward's chest, his grip tightening as the girl began to fight the draw of the enthrallment. Bella took a deep breath, energy surging upwards from the ground and into her body. She drew from the land and the Pack, apologizing in her mind for the intrusion on their life force.

Edward's confused look lasted a second before he felt himself being literally blasted backwards, his body going through two trees before he managed to stop himself on the third. Alice was knocked away from Jasper and into the night, running as her feet hit the ground. The wolves were pushed back towards the fire, Emmett holding tight to Charlie as he and Rose tumbled to the ground in the shockwave.

Bella's skin was nearly _glowing_ as she stood braced, her breathing was deep and labored as if she'd run a mile wearing weights. Her eyes were alight with life and power as Edward hissed and ran back towards her, stopping only when he realized the wolves were beginning to get up.

" _Get out, Edward Anthony Masen Cullen. Leave this place with your half-life, such mercies will not be shown to you again."_ The voice coming from Bella's mouth sounded like a thousand things at once; the wind through the trees as it whips down the mountains, the rain hitting the forest floor, the splash of the sea against the rocks of cliff sides, and underneath all of those was the piercing howl of wolves. _"Take this as a warning and a gift, Cold One. We do not know mercy often, so run."_

Edward didn't need telling twice, his eyes wide as he turned and promptly ran in the opposite direction. As he ran away, Bella turned to the group behind her. All of them, wolves included, were looking at her as if they weren't sure just _what_ she was. Fear was painting across their features, even that of the vampires.

" _Jasper Whitlock-Hale, Rosalie Hale, Emmett Hale… You have been judged, and found worthy."_ Bella's words echoed into the night as the glow surrounding her began to fade. The wolves looked at each other in confusion, but did not question anything just yet.

Bella's eyes blinked rapidly as she tried to gain her bearings, the power she had drown up from the ground and the Pack leaving her. She looked at the Pack and the vampires with tired eyes, her body swaying as she opened her mouth. This time, it was her voice that came out.

"Paul?" The name was a whisper on her lips as she pitched forward towards the ground for what seemed like the millionth time in the last half hour. This time, however, it wasn't cold arms that caught her before she touched the wet earth. Hot arms wrapped themselves around her cold and shaking body, holding them to a stark-naked body.

"I'm here, little Swan." Paul's voice broke as he fought the tears that were roiling beneath the thin layer of calm on his exterior. He knelt there in the dirt, calm in his nakedness in front of the vampires. Bella's body finally stilled, the shaking stopping as her breathing came back to a normal rhythm.

Her eyes did not open.

"I think, Jacob Black, that my family and I have a few questions- and would like what answers you can provide." Jasper said to Jake, not taking his eyes off the couple in front of him. The pain flowing from Paul was tangible to his senses, and Jasper couldn't help but taste it as the pain mingled with such love and care that the vampire wished once again his heart could beat.

"Not going to lie, so do I." Jake replied almost ironically. Paul stood with Bella and turned to his Pack, Jake and Sam's eyes not leaving that of their brother and their imprint. "Paul?"

Paul looked up and assessed the situation for a moment, his eyes wild and his body language like that of a caged or cornered animal. Bella did not stir in his arms as he moved, though the beating of her heart and the intake and exhale of breath told all she was still alive.

"They deserve something, Jake." Paul looked from the human baby Alpha to the still wolfed out Alpha. "Sam, you asked for an answer earlier and here it is; I trust them."

With that, and leaving the vampires in complete confusion, Paul strode past the whole group back to the fire. Bella was much too cold for his liking and he wanted to get her near more warmth than just his body as quickly as he could. The rest of the group; humans, wolves, and vampires all trekked their way to the gathering place as well.

Silence hung in the air once again as Jake walked to the trinket he had dropped in the dirt when it lit up. The small charm, a stone shaped rather peculiarly, was now dark and cool to the touch. He slipped it around his neck and began to talk to the group, all of whom had taken up their prior positions minus Paul- he was sitting on a chair on the Tribe's side of the line, Bella tucked firm and secure in his arms.

"This is a long story," Jake began as he took a breath in. His voice took on a commanding leader-like air as he continued into the night. "But I will begin at the beginning…"

* * *

 _A/N: Hello everyone! This chapter has been done for over a week now and I am so sorry that I could not upload it! Every time I tried to get on it kept telling me it couldn't find the DNS or something like that and I was unable to even look at the site let alone upload anything! So not cool, trust me!_

 _Thank you to everyone who has commented thus far on the last chapter and I did want to take some time to clear up a couple things that I know some people have messaged me about and if I have already covered them in a previous Note then I apologize for beating a dead horse, if you will._

 _1\. Jasper is the leader of the new Coven and **yes** they have split away from the Cullen coven completely. More to be revealed on that one and I do want people to know that Carlisle and Esme will be making an appearance in later chapters- so don't worry about that loose end, it will get tied up!_

 _2\. Edward and Alice are **not** (as of this chapter, if it ever happens) working towards the same goals. I know it seems that way but I promise that they aren't. It's all in the way I write things and I don't mean to be a weirdo when I do write them the way I do, it just works for me._

 _3\. Yes, I **know,** that things like Thralls and Enthrallment are **not** part of the Twiverse- that thought did not escape me! However, it has been added in to my play through of the Twiverse (said as if this is a video game, good Lord what is wrong with me?). Just like the Keeper and the ties to Land and People as well as the Spirits and their roles in this story the Enthrallment is something that I have pulled from different mythologies about Vampires or Werewolves and tweaked it to fit my purposes here. In no way are my additions meant to anger anyone but I will admit that if they do there is little I can do about them except apologize._

 _4. **Yes,** I **know** that I haven't done a smut scene yet, and that I have spent a **lot** of time building the plot to get this far and even though I want to apologize about that, I'm not going to. Personally, I much prefer to write and read slow burns (the slower for a deeper plot the better, but that's an opinion) because it seems more real. Not knocking stories of **any** genre where they find each other, fall in love, and then have sex in less than a week- because those can be good too! I just prefer it this way **and** it works out for my story. (For those of you wanting a smut scene please be patient for like 2-3 more chapters, I have a couple time hops and it is coming!)_

 _5\. Bella's Shield and her ability to use it will be explained in later chapters, partially in the next one actually. I promise I am not trying to murder you guys with cliff hangers but I don't want the chapters to get too long and I am trying to neatly sort of cut up all of the information and place it where and when it is needed instead of giving you guys a 10k word chapter that is literally all exposition and no plot advancement._

 _And finally, I would like to thank all of your private and public reviews of this story. I know that, this chapter especially, some of the chapters may seem rushed or even too slow and I know that my writing style isn't for everyone- which is completely normal, really. But I do want to give a shout out and a big cyber hug to all of my readers for sticking with me and for (hopefully) not lynching me after this chapter. I know I squeezed things in and compressed it a bit, but more will be revealed in the next chapter as well as the ones following. I promise, the plot line from beginning to end makes sense once all the chapters are laid out._

 _Thank you!_


	40. Meeting at Midnight Part Three

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

The vampires listened as Jake told them the story of what had happened in their absence in the little town of Forks. Charlie added in bits and pieces where he could, and even the wolves punctuated the conversation in their own way by making little noises of agreement or disagreement while their Pack Brother talked.

"So our presence here did more harm than good, it seems." Jasper said finally as he looked from Jake to Paul to the rest of the wolves. "Had we moved on sooner it seems likely that none of you would have had to bear this burden- that you would have been able to live relatively normal human lives."

"Don't mistake our burden for resentment," Paul spoke for the first time since he had declared that he trusted the vampires. He looked up to Jasper, his eyes meeting those of another soldier. Even Paul could feel the difference between Jasper, him, and the rest of the group around the fire. "We were already gifted with this by the right of our blood- and if you had not been around then another leech or even group of them could have come through. Our genes are not something we can run from."

"Certainly." Jasper replied with a nod, it was short but not curt. "However, I am curious about Bella. If Edward had not taken such a liking to her then she would not have been in such danger in the first place. I know she cannot do anything about her smell, or the smell of her blood to be precise, but she could have been less curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat, Jasper." Rosalie rolled her eyes, continued with a sharp look at the wolves as they growled. "You do realize the rest of that is 'but satisfaction brought it back,' right?"

"Apparently not." Emmett laughed into his hands, garnering a smack to the back of his head from his wife.

"Enough, you two." Jasper chided gently, his eyes coming back to Paul's as he spoke to the man again. "I must ask you to take them with a grain of salt. Tonight, has been… odd… for all of us and I think they are coping in the only way Emmett knows how."

"No offense to me, Jasper." Paul replied bluntly, his tone plain with no animosity even when he spoke the leech's name. "And I'm naked, not dumb… you've got something you want to ask me- so why don't you just get it over with?"

"To the point, I like it." Jasper cocked an eyebrow as he spoke. "Fine, if you insist I ask you here." Jasper took a breath and stirred up enough courage to ask the question he'd been dying to hear the answer to. "As you probably know, I have an empathetic power- gifted from my human life into this one and enhanced with the power and immortality given by the venom that changed me. Through such power I can feel the emotions around me, their intensity or lack of… It is like following threads to their sources when I want."

"Get to the point." Paul narrowed his eyes, almost certain of the question the leech wanted to ask.

"What is Bella to you? To your Pack? All of you have such intense bonds with her that it amazes even me- and I've been around for a long enough time to have seen everything." Jasper looked down for a moment and then back to Paul. "For example, your bond with her is alight to me right now- glowing like that of the ancient descriptions of angels from biblical times. She is, even unconscious, so attuned to you. And you her. It's like looking at a single being, but the bonds between her and _all_ of you are like that to varying degrees."

"I'm not sure I can answer that question, Jasper. You'd have to ask my Alpha first." Paul cracked a smirk as he looked over towards Sam, who still sat tall and proud as a wolf. "How about it, Sam? They already know 90 percent of this story anyway…"

Sam looked at his best fighter and pondered, warring with himself on the inside. He wanted to keep the secrets of the Keeper and the bond Bella had with the Pack, People, and the Land but he also knew that the best way to ensure peace was to at least offer some explanation of the bond between Bella and Paul at minimum. Finally, Sam gave a small half nod.

He could only hope that Paul would understand the gesture and not go overboard with his explanations.

Paul nodded his head back to Sam, shifting his position so he could hold Bella closer to his body- though in reality it was so he could cover his nakedness. The blond female vampire smirked at the movement and he rolled his eyes towards her. Paul wasn't a shy man, but it had just occurred to him that he was naked in front of others than his Brothers.

"The bond you're talking about is something wolves do, we call it imprinting." Paul replied blandly. He didn't have to talk about the Keeper or Bella's connection to everyone- her imprint with him would be enough to explain. "It's when the wolf finds the soul of the one who will complete and complement our own- the man and the wolf."

"Mating, then?" Jasper's voice was straight and to the point as he responded blandly. "Vampires have something close to it, though not as solid so it seems."

Pain flashed across Jasper's eyes for a moment- just long enough for Paul to catch it. The leech was hurting over the betrayal of his wife, that was obvious. It was such a human reaction that the native man found himself feeling empathy towards the vampire- Paul couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose Bella.

Not that he hadn't come close enough to doing so in the last hour. Paul tightened his grip on his mate just a little, shifting her so that he could feel her heartbeat against his skin. She hadn't woken yet but was still alive and that was a gift after the attempted attack by Edward and Alice.

"Your… brother… what has he done to Bella?" Paul asked quietly, looking away from Jasper as he did so. Whatever he had witnessed, the calling from Edward to Bella and her painful response to him… Paul didn't know what the hell was going on but he wanted to be able to stop it if the idiot was stupid enough to come back and try it again.

"He has enthralled her." A questioning glance from Jake to Jasper got the vampire to keep talking. "It is an old thing, ancient and almost unheard of. Even Carlisle thought it a myth among our kind- something that older vampires had created to trick younger ones into inadvertent torture."

"Torture?" Jake asked sharply, his eyes moving from Jasper to Paul and Bella. Paul met Jake's look squarely and the two

"According to the legends that Carlisle gleaned from the Volturi about enthrallment it involves the slow build-up of a vampire's venom in the system of a human, usually taking the course of a few years. It is best done on children, if you believe the things the guards told Carlisle." Jasper replied as calmly as he could. He kept his eyes trained on Bella and her apparent mate, Paul. "I don't know the truth of that particular statement but the reality is that enthrallment is obviously real, and Bella has been tied to Edward through his venom."

"Why only Edward?" Jake's cutting reply was as sharp as a knife.

"Carlisle believed that if enthrallment was real then there must be something beneath the surface of a vampire's venom- something that almost leaves a mark of the creature itself. A way to control the prey through what Carlisle believed to be 'life force energies.' None of us really listened to or cared to take part of his fascination with the idea." Rosalie answered the question after a pause between the groups. She continued at a small nod from Jasper. "Carlisle believed, or believes, that if it is possible to enthrall a human then there must be a way to block our venom out altogether. He never tested his theory though, since he refused to put a human through such torture and what kills and animal may or may not kill a human."

"Relatively sure that you can kill both, blondie." Paul smirked at the now glaring Rosalie. "What? Names never were my strong suit and 'hey you, leech' doesn't have the same ring to it."

"Be nice, Rose." Emmett said as he placed a calming hand on the back of his wife's shoulders. He looked at Paul and scanned the native man up and down with calculating eyes. "I can't say that I know much about you, but you seem to be a good sort." Paul dipped his head to the compliment but kept silent. "Anyway, though… it's getting late, the moon is setting and we still haven't addressed the elephant in the clearing here… What sort of powers does Bella have? And how did she manage to not only break the enthrallment on her but also throw her supposed 'Master' a good forty feet and through a couple trees?"

"That's been bothering me too, Emmett." Jasper spoke to his brother before turning again to the wolves. "Bella is human, I can tell that much from here. But her scent, it has changed, and obviously, she isn't the same girl we left behind so many months ago. That power was something beyond even I've seen in the Wars, and Carlisle mentions nothing about a human having such abilities in his journals."

"We don't know where that power came from, actually." Jake looked down in shame. He didn't want to lie, but omitting some of the truth for now was much safer than telling the vampires too much too soon. The safety of his people had to come first in this instance, he was a future Chief after all.

"Bullshit and you know it, Jake." Paul cut in gruffly. The vampire's heads turned to look at the naked man, their eyes glowing in the firelight with interest. "Bella is part of the Pack due to her imprint with me- and through that she can tap into her mate's energy. Didn't any of you see her knock her shoes off? She was connecting herself to the ground, to me in a way."

"So through your imprinting she can, in dire need, actually siphon power from you to use?" Paul nodded somberly, Jasper tried to feel the underlying emotions but felt nothing that gave him a feeling that he was being lied to. The man was being sincere. "That is a useful gift, though from the looks of it most definitely a precious one to use only when needed- she hasn't stirred since she fell."

"She'll be alright. Humans have a hard time with the kind of life force we wolves have- it just tired her out." Paul kept his eyes placid and his voice plain.

"Helpful, and that certainly answers one of my questions. I'm still curious about her words in the end when she spoke to us- she said that we had been judged and found worthy. Were those her words or were they also coming from you, since she was drawing your power to say them?" Jasper looked at all the wolves as he talked, having pieced together a theory that her imprint to Paul would have connected her to the whole Pack in a way.

"It was her," Jake began quietly. "She was letting us and you know that your actions, saving her and standing against your siblings and your wife… that you, the three of you, have been deemed worthy in _her_ eyes to be given a chance at a treaty. I, Jacob Ephraim Black, agree with this assessment and as future Chief of my people and acting voice of my Pack I hereby offer a treaty with the Whitlock-Hale family. Should you accept the terms will be solidified this night before the sun rises, the bond sealed in word and blood- as it was decades ago."

Jake held his hand out for Jasper to take, and the vampire wasted no time in walking around the fire to the treaty line. He stood in front of Jake for a solid second or two before clasping the native's warm hand in his ice cold one- the treaty between their two groups was now a negotiation between the leaders of both the Pack and the coven.

* * *

While Jake and Jasper moved to the head of the fire to talk, Charlie joining them in pensive silence, the rest of the group relaxed just a little. Emmett went over to talk to the wolves who were standing behind the chairs- he asked for permission to cross treaty lines before they nodded at him- and was currently regaling them of his video game exploits. Rose walked around the fire until she was standing directly across from where Paul sat with Bella still in his arms. She looked at him for a moment before speaking.

"Permission to cross treaty line?" Rose's voice was softer than normal, though Paul wouldn't have known that about the vampire. He nodded to her and even motioned to the seat next to him so Rose moved to occupy it. She took a breath and looked around at the motley group before she continued. "You must really love Bella, don't you?"

Paul was shocked by the question and looked up from his mate. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, aside from the fact that you're using her body to shield your own from our eyes… you haven't let her go since you caught her- and you were pretty quick to shed some fur to catch her in the first place." Rose almost laughed, her relaxed demeanor helping Paul relax just a little. "So, I was curious; you must really love her."

"Like the Moon loves the Sun." Paul replied plainly.

"An interesting metaphor, don't you think?" Rose cocked her head to the side.

"Not really, if I think about it for more than half a second." He looked Rose directly in her eyes as he spoke. Paul wasn't dumb- he knew that this was one girl measuring up another's man, a way to test him. And with Rose being a vampire, and obviously caring for Bella… this was a test he wanted to pass. "I'm a werewolf, aren't I? Whether or not I need a full moon, people would still take one look at me and assume full moon and silver and man eating bullshit… But Bella, she's the sun to my moon. Without her I would be nothing…"

"Bold words, don't you think?"

Again, the vampire had managed to shock Paul. He thought about what she asked for a moment before attempting to reply with a question of his own.

"And just what do you mean by that?" Paul asked through slightly clenched teeth, a little offended at the idea that this vampire believed he was all talk when it came to Bella.

"Well, from what I've managed to gather… It's obvious that you love her, but to outright say that she's the sun to your moon… Well that's just pretty words coming out of a prettier face, now isn't it?" Rose smiled at Paul's confusion and kept charging on. "I mean, looking at you it's pretty obvious that you haven't been lacking in feminine attention- I bet it's actually pretty easy for a guy like you to attract the eye of every woman you come across, isn't it?"

"What are you asking exactly?" Paul's eyes narrowed but his tone was still level, he was annoyed but not angry. Bella had been tortured and hurt enough by her past that Paul didn't feel the need to add to it by attacking one of the pieces that had redeemed itself.

"I'm saying that I'd bed quite a bit of money on the fact that you've probably had quite a few female partners recently- and if my intuition serves me you've had them since you imprinted, or whatever, on Bella. Am I right?" Paul scowled and nodded in silence, not wanting to voice his shame again. "Well then isn't it a little presumptuous of you to say that Bella is your sun and that you are nothing without her?"

"You know, for a blonde that looks like she's had work done… you're surprisingly deeper than a puddle." Paul's cocky response was more of a defensive mechanism than an actual attack, and thankfully Rose understood it before she laughed at him.

"Well being around 100 years old tends to help. That and never getting to sleep… Gives you a _lot_ of time to ponder the meaning of life, love, and the pursuit of happiness." Rose smiled a flashing grin at the wolf- who surprised himself by smiling back. "Think about what I said though, alright? I realize that I look like just a pretty face but I've been around for a while believe it or not. And as obvious as it is that you love her it is also just as obvious that she's pretty damaged and needs some healing."

"I know…" Paul trailed off for a second before looking back up at Rosalie. "Rosalie, was it?" Rose nodded and looked at him in confusion. "How would you suggest going about trying to make up for some pretty big mistakes I've made… Some of them aren't exactly my fault, but still."

"Well, knowing Bella like I do I can tell you pretty gifts and spoiling her won't do you a damn bit of good." Rose started as she leaned towards the native in a secretive way. "But, you seem nice enough so I'll take a little pity on you and help you- just this once."

The two of them then became so deep in their own conversation that neither noticed the eyes of the others in the group on them.

* * *

"So it is decided then?" Jasper said finally, just as the moon began the final steps in its journey below the horizon. The wolves and even Charlie had managed well enough, the cop yawning occasionally, but it was getting late and they would be needing to rest soon enough. "I will take over the same territory as Carlisle and the Cullen coven- since we will be staying in the same house. Should Carlisle enter my territory I will inform him of his need to present himself for judgement accordingly per his treaty obligations."

"Very good, Jasper Whitlock-Hale." Jake almost yawned as he spoke, his body just as tired as his mind. "As far as the others go, however… Esme, you said? We shall withhold judgement on her until her mate presents himself to us. Edward and Alice, though. They are not welcome in our territory and we would ask you to remove them from yours as well- but I can't force you on that."

"Neither Edward Cullen nor Alice Cullen are welcome with us, Jacob Black." Jasper's voice was solid, his eyes firm. "Both have showed myself and my siblings their true colors tonight- and those colors do not match our own."

"Any others who wish to join your coven must be approved by the Pack before they are welcome under the treaty terms- is this agreeable as well?" Jake eyed Jasper warily. He had spoken of Wars and knowing human drinkers during their talk and the Pack wanted nothing to do with leeches who would bring harm to people.

"Agreed." Jasper reached his hand out over the piece of paper that the two had been writing on as they finalized the treaty. Jake reached out and clasped his hand once again before they leaned back and began the final process to make the treaty official.

Jake withdrew a knife, old and ornate in make, from a sheath on his belt. The teen held his hand out over the paper and carefully sliced a small incision in the palm of his hand, he winced a little as he sliced deep enough to make some blood drip onto the paper.

The vampire's throats tightened but it was not unbearable- the smell of blood always brought forth their thirst but Jake's blood smelled just as rancid as it did edible.

In front of Jasper's eyes the cut healed and Jake held the paper out to him. He could not bleed in the way that the boy could, but he still had to give of himself to seal this contract. Leaning over the paper, Jasper thought longingly of blood and feeding- enough to cause venom production but not enough to cause a frenzy in his mind. The silvery thick liquid dripped from his fangs and lips onto the paper- it hissed like acid as it hit.

"It is sealed." Jake's voice was commanding and reminded the wolves of Sam's Alpha tone as he held the treaty in the air. He looked to Jasper and groaned inwardly. "I can make a copy of this for you and we can mark it on a later date if that is suitable for you. I need to get my Pack back to their homes."

"Understandable," Jasper smiled and nodded as he stood. "You have my contact information and you gave me yours and the Alpha's. I will contact you should anything be amiss in my territory, and if I could request the same courtesy that would be beneficial as well."

"Sure." Jake nodded as he looked to the wolves, they all looked tired and in need of some serious sleep. He turned back to Jasper and dipped his head in a respectful goodbye. "Thank you, Jasper Whitlock-Hale."

With that the two groups separated. The wolves began their walk back to the vehicle that Charlie had driven himself and Bella out in while the vampires ran from the meadow towards their own home.

It had been a long enough night for everyone, and it wasn't done yet.

* * *

 _A/N: Finally this 3-part chapter is done! This is the last of the meeting between Jasper and the wolves. I know I didn't exactly stay in any one's 'view' for too long but that was a calculated thing, I did it on purpose I promise!_

 _Anyway, thank all of you for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter even though it was semi-fluffy and more of a wrap up than anything!_


	41. Not So Quiet Mornings

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

Bella woke up in a room that wasn't her own, that much was obvious to even her sleep hazed mind. The bed she was much larger than hers and the sheets were as soft as clouds- and just as silver once she got a good look at them. Muted but still bright sunlight was streaming into the room through the open window opposite the bed. It was mid to late morning from the look of the light.

But where was she?

Bella reached up to rub her eyes and rolled towards the middle of the bed with a yawn. When she opened her eyes again she almost yelled out in surprise as she came face to face with a sleeping man. In her haze, she sat bolt upright and scooted away from him on the bed before she got a good look at the features on his face.

It was Paul.

Bella sat on the barest edge of the bed away from the sleeping native, her eyes scanning Paul's face in an inquisitive way. She'd seen his face up close before, but not in such a vulnerable way. With his eyes closed he looked very much like the still-in-high-school seventeen-year-old boy that he would, and should, have been. The lines of his face and jaw were still sharp and gave him an air of maturity but Bella was willing to bet that those were from more than being a wolf.

His skin looked soft as the silk sheets she was wrapped in and as much as she wanted to reach out and touch him Bella found herself hesitating. She was trying to remember the night before but was drawing one hell of a blank after getting to the meeting. She could remember saying hello to Emmett, and being surprised that he and Rose had showed up with Jasper this time.

A few flashes of memory broke through her haze, images of Edward with too dark eyes and of a bright blinding flash of light. The Great Wolf from her dreams and faceless forms made of light and darkness. The images seemed to flip through her mind like an old-school film projector, confusing and out of order. It made her head hurt, so she stopped trying to remember just what had happened. The boys would tell her, or her father would.

She hoped.

Looking once again at Paul's sleeping form Bella made a snap decision to make him something to eat. He had to have been up quite late to still be sleeping now, especially once she caught a look at the time- it was half past eleven.

Climbing slowly and carefully off the bed Bella decided that she would explore the house just enough to find the kitchen and make food. She hadn't been here before, not as far as she could remember, but the house seemed relatively close to Sam's house in layout- and she _had_ been there.

Creeping down the stairs to the overly silent first floor she looked around and was pleasantly surprised to notice that this house was the same as Sam's and the kitchen was near the back door. Wandering into it Bella quickly familiarized herself with the general layout, checking cupboards for cooking utensils and dinnerware. Last thing she checked was the fridge and was rather surprised to find it fully stocked with everything from necessities like eggs, milk, and bread to other items like bacon, sausage, and a rather large bag of venison dated two days before. To Bella, it looked like Paul was packaging meat into smaller amounts if her hunch was right, and a quick peek into the freezer told her she was right.

Bella began to gather the things she would need to make a halfway decent breakfast, only truly considering herself and Paul- she figured if others showed up she could always cook for them later. Grabbing out the eggs, milk, bread, bacon, cinnamon, brown sugar, nutmeg, and the necessary pans she began to busy herself with the beginnings of French toast and bacon.

She only hoped Paul would enjoy it.

* * *

Emmett had been relaxing on the chaise for hours since they had gotten back. His body language read as lax and almost fluid, Rose was lying beside him with her head on his chest and her body beneath the arm he'd curled around her.

"Have a good talk with the wolf boy?" Emmett smiled a devilish grin to the ceiling as he spoke, it turned into a smirk as he continued. "I mean, you _did_ tell him that he had a pretty face."

Rose pushed on the arm of her husband in a playful way with a small smile. "You know what I meant by it, Em. I want to make sure Bella will be okay, I mean- don't you think all of this is probably moving too fast for her? First us leaving, then Edward attacking and being a complete douche canoe, being rescued and saved by the wolves and their Pack… being tied to them in such a way like the imprint."

"That and I'm not blind Angel, she has a bite mark that doesn't belong to James or Edward on her collarbone on the one side." Emmett thought about it for a moment. "So, how much you want to bet that's a mating mark- kinda like what we do?"

"Could be." Jasper's voice interrupted the two lovebirds from their snuggling as he walked into the room with three boxes in his arms. He had once again been scouring Carlisle's study and his locked storage. Emmett had begun the day with misgivings about going through his foster father's things but that thought had long since gone away as Jasper and Rose had found more and more information that Carlisle had kept from _all_ of them about his past with the Volturi and his experimentations on the effects of vampires and vampirism around humans.

"More boxes, Jas?" Rose sat up a little as she looked at the old wooden crates, all three of them bore the mark of the Volturi crest and were ornately made for being so plain. They looked to be old, one of them seemed older than even Carlisle himself.

"Found them in the storage area, hidden beneath what seemed to be neverendingly large piles of our own memories." Jasper replied sitting down on the floor in front of the table. Just as he began to open one of the boxes the southern vampire found himself stopped by the quick motions of his sibling, Emmett was now standing and staring into the distance out of one of the windows.

"Wouldn't open that yet, Jasper." Emmett's eyes were tracking a blur in the trees, Jasper and Rose could see it too. "We've got company."

And true to what Emmett had said, not even a minute later there was the barest knock on the front door of the house before the intruder let himself in and walked into the house casually.

"Once upon a time I never thought I would be knocking to enter my own house…" Edward's voice was caramel smooth as he walked through the entrance way and into the living room where his former siblings were. Emmett made a move as if to attack him, which stopped the vampire as he cocked an eye towards the bigger man. "You do realize I can still read your mind, right?"

"Won't stop me from ripping you apart!" Emmett's teeth were clenched and bared at the older vampire. Edward's eyes were the proper shade of honey gold, a good sign since the human blood in his system would have made him strong enough to actually be a challenge to the larger man. "What the hell is _wrong_ with you?!"

"There's nothing wrong with me that wasn't already wrong, I'm sure." Edward's cocky voice and prim accent gave Jasper pause. Had Edward lost is mind? Or was he just being the real Edward? Carlisle had a suspicion that the 'monster' of the venom within their body was an actual thing with the possible ability of corrupting the vampire's very soul- if they had one left. Was Carlisle right? "I merely used the tools at my disposal to keep the girl who has captured my attentions."

"Keep her or enslave her?" Rose's growl was feral in nature, so much so that even Emmett looked at her in a bit of surprise. She'd sounded almost animalistic, which was rather unlike her usually refined manners. "In your attempt to bleed her dry in the forest you left behind enough venom to kill a thousand humans."

"She isn't dead, though, is she?"

"No, and she has the wolves to thank for that!" Rose spat the words out with such force that Edward visibly blanched.

"Why are you here, Edward?" Jasper cut into the conversation and stepped between Rose and Edward with his usual grace. "You are not welcome in my territory."

" _Your territory_?" Edward's cynical laugh was grating against the ears of his siblings. "Last time I checked, dear _brother_ , this was the territory of Carlisle and the Cullen coven."

"Not anymore." Jasper's teeth clenched as he spoke. "Your rather magnificent stunt with Bella saw to that."

"I did not bite her." Edward sounded so confident of himself as he spoke, his face set with an arrogance that Jasper longed to rip off.

"You didn't have to, dear _Brother_." Rose smiled in an uncharacteristically sadistic way as she stepped with grace and agility towards Edward. "For someone who can read minds you are the stupidest waste of vampire immortality that I have _ever_ seen. Did you truly think you were going to be able to just torture a girl nearly to **death** in the woods and not receive consequences of that? On top of that where in the hell was your head last night?"

"Rose has a point, Ed." Emmett's teeth were still clenched and his body rigid. "What was your plan to get out of that alive outside of using her as a bargaining chip? It doesn't matter _who_ told you of the meeting, Alice or Carlisle, because I know for damn sure that they would have reminded you of the wolves of the Quileute tribe."

"I was informed. And had originally come to the meeting to protest my innocence in the torture of Bella; I was out of my mind from grief at the idea of leaving her behind and she provoked me into the attack- I can only assume in the hopes of me taking her with me instead of leaving her behind. However, upon my arrival the first thoughts to assault me were none too friendly and my fight or flight kicked in." Edward's cocky smile still hadn't faltered as he turned to look at Jasper directly. "I must say that you have some quick reflexes, even with whatever that bright light was. You should never have been able to place a hand on her before I was long gone."

"Call it practice." Jasper stepped forward with authority and continued to speak. "Edward Masen Cullen, you are not welcome in my territory, and I must ask you only this once to leave. It has been decided by the Pack and myself that should you be caught in either territory, mine or the wolves', that you are to be brought in front of the Alpha for judgement."

"Pups have no right to 'judge' me, Jasper. You can't judge a being without a soul." Edward's sneer was met with harsh laughter from his brother.

"I'm giving you a courtesy and a mercy, Edward. I suggest that you take it and never look back towards Forks or Bella." Jasper stepped forward again and picked up a neatly wrapped bundle off the couch. "In fact, you can be my errand boy. This needs to be delivered to Carlisle and you'll find yourself _much_ safer in Alaska than here. So be good and give this to him."

Edward narrowed his eyes to slits as he glared daggers at Jasper. He stood there tense and angry, his body recoiling from the three aggressive minds in the room. Sifting through their thoughts enough to know that _none_ of them would currently spare him a single sad thought and especially Rose would love nothing more than to burn him herself- he sighed and backed down.

Reaching for the package in Jasper's hands he growled a little.

"This isn't a mercy, Jasper, and you know it." Before any of the three could talk he continued as he turned towards the door. "But I'll take it nonetheless. I don't feel like burning today."

"Smart man." Rose replied in an overly sweet voice, turning away from him to return to the chaise she had been resting on with her husband. Emmett remained in his position, eyes watching Edward walk away with interest and a ferocity that made Rose shiver in anticipation for the night to come; Emmett was always so much _more_ when he was riled.

Edward walked out of the house stiffly, playing with the wrapped-up box in his hands. It was feather light for a vampire, feeling as if it were made of air instead of wood and paper. Looking at it for a moment as he twisted and turned it in his hands, Edward made the decision to leave and go north. Carlisle would need to know about his loss of territory and hopefully he would be an ally in Edward's search to return Bella to where she belonged.

Once that thought hit his mind he was a blur in the trees, running north.

"We haven't seen the last of him or Alice, Jasper." Emmett told his older brother as the two watched Edward run away.

"I know." Jasper replied solemnly. "We'll just have to be ready the next time we see them."

* * *

Paul's first emotion upon waking up was contentment as he lay on his bed for a few moments, awake but without having opened his eyes. A lack of a second breathing in the room forced Paul's eyes open quickly as he scanned the bed and found it empty besides himself. Fear gripped his entire body then, paralyzing him for a moment as thoughts raced through his mind at breakneck speed.

Had Bella left? Had she been taken? Why had she not woken him up when she did? Her scent was still relatively fresh on his sheets so it could not have been too long since she left them.

 _Where was Bella?_

Calming himself enough to take a few breaths, and attempt to think clearly, found a curious smell reaching his nose. It was food, that was certain; bacon if he was willing to stake his otherworldly nose on it. The other smell was more pervasive, softer and harder to place in his still fear-filled brain. It was a spice, he was sure of that, and it was undercut with the distinct pungency of eggs as well.

Sitting up to look out the window Paul saw no cars outside that shouldn't be there, heard no voices downstairs that he could place- in fact he heard no voices at all. Where was this smell coming from? Deciding to Hell with it, he pulled the sheet from his body, an unneeded habit now, and stood up. Paul had reminded himself of decency last night and was wearing a pair of black night pants made of some soft material he couldn't place.

Moving with agility and grace, using speed as an ally as well, Paul crept from the bed to the stairs- he was following the faded smell of Bella and the rather new aroma of cooking food. He made it down the stairs without making a single board creak, his body tense and coiling as he stepped around the corner from the bottom of the stairs to his kitchen.

The sight before him stopped his heart for a long moment before Paul reminded himself to breathe and managed to get his brain working beyond a standing capacity.

Bella was cooking, in _his_ kitchen. She was cooking and had set out two places at the table. Bella was cooking in _his_ house, had set out a place for _him_ … The thought was something new to Paul, stirring emotions he thought were long dead inside his chest.

 **Bella** , his mate and his wife, was cooking for _him_.

Paul being Paul, however, such gentle thoughts did not stop him from smirking evilly and sneaking up behind the woman who had so wholly captured his attention the moment before. He was tracing the lines of her back through her clothes, mentally undressing her and reveling in it.

What he wouldn't give to have her pale little body beneath his, begging him for release from his loving torture. Denying her the release she would seek from his touch, oh how there was nothing more enticing to him than the idea of bringing Bella to the peak of her pleasure only to allow her to drop down a little. The climb back up was always worth the wait, that was something he had learned quickly when he had started his exploration of women.

But this wasn't just any woman, this was _Bella._ _**His**_ Bella.

Shaking his head to rid himself of the thoughts invading his mind, and to calm the raging erection that now stood full mast beneath the silken layer of cloth, Paul stepped forward once more with feather light steps. He didn't give Bella time to react to his presence once she noticed he was there, she had been at the tail end of pulling French toast off the pain as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled himself tight against her.

She tensed for a single instant, relaxing as he breathed his 'good morning' into her hair gently. Bella's body arched away from and towards his own at the same time, a devilishly tempting sensation to the wolf in his mind. It howled with need, primal and instinctual _want_ to take and lavish the woman in his arms with the furious passion of a man who had seen his woman in the arms of another.

It was a rather primitive thought, though, wasn't it? Wanting to prove to her, wholly and biblically, that she was _his_. Wanting her body beneath his in such a way that would have her begging for him and wishing to run at the same time. Prey was always much sweeter when it ran, the adrenaline and fear mixed into a heady scent.

And Bella's current aroma of contentment, arousal, and a dash of fear was just as intoxicating as a frightened animal during a hunt.

"Scaring me when I make you breakfast is not a good idea." Bella swallowed repeatedly to wet her mouth as it had run completely dry. "It doesn't make me want to be nice anymore, you know."

"But scaring you is so much _fun._ " Paul whispered into her hair, moving his mouth down towards her ear with a wicked smile. "It's such a tempting thing."

Bella moved to turn, plates of food in her hands, and Paul allowed her to leave his grasp rather begrudgingly. He watched her like a hawk as she set the plates of food in between the setup of plates and cutlery on the table. She moved to get milk, juice, and syrup out of his fridge all while keeping her eyes distinctly trained _away_ from him. Only once she had everything on the table and ready for their meal did she look at him at all.

"Quit being tempted and come eat, you look like you need it." Bella moved around the table to sit with her back to the door. "And I'm sure you and I need to talk."

* * *

 _A/N: Yes, I know this is kind of a fluff/plot/fluff sandwich but I kinda needed it this way to be able to set up some things in a few chapters and I truly **did** try to make it interesting for you all! I would ever so much hate to have any of you be dreadfully bored by my story, I hate being bored myself as it is._

 _Thanks to everyone for their kind words, you all are so amazing!_


	42. Howls in the Forest

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

Carlisle stood for a moment in the kitchen of his and Esme's house, he was pacing the never used room in a great worry. None of his children had called him back and his gut told him that something was wrong. It had been days since he had spoken to any of his offspring, the passage of time become slower with each passing hour.

Esme was sitting in the parlor window, a seat she had asked Emmett and Jasper to build her. She had picked up a needle and thread for the first time in many years and was running through the all too familiar movements of needlework, something to pass the time and calm her mind.

Neither parental vampire was calm, neither was clear headed. And neither could bear to be in the same room as the other for too long.

A loudly resounding knock on the front door, followed by its opening on oiled hinges, brought both to the front room. In the doorway stood a disheveled and slightly off Edward. His eyes were darker than normal, something Esme took as a sign of hunger more than the idea that he'd fallen off the wagon and eaten from a human.

"Edward." Carlisle strode forward and embraced his first child, a smile widening on his features as he backed away. "Have you seen your siblings?"

"I have, Carlisle." Edward produced the package he had carried for miles. He held it out to his 'father' gently, the wrapping untouched and unopened. He had to admit that his curiosity almost won out- but Edward also knew that Carlisle would tell him what Jasper had sent. "This is from your black sheep and his new coven."

"What are you talking about?" Carlisle grabbed the package and unwrapped the box. He opened it to find a copy of his treaty with the Quileute tribe, a few passages carefully circled. As the doctor read the notes attached his eyes grew wider, his mouth opening in disbelief.

Finally, he looked up at Edward, disappointment clear on his features.

"You didn't truly do this, did you?" Carlisle whispered into the silent room, Esme rushing forward to read the contents of the box as well, dropping it in her own shock at the words on the pages.

"I can't tell you the truth and still also tell you the answer you wish to hear." Edward shrugged, leaning against the door. "I did attack Bella, I marked and claimed her in the traditional way of our kind. I should have taken her in the mortal way too- but that is an oversight I can correct in time."

"You tried to enthrall Bella?!" Esme's hand flew to her mouth as she tried very hard not to let too much show in her mind. "Why would you do such a thing?"

"I have no answer for that other than pure selfishness, I suppose." Edward smiled a wicked and greedy smile. "I was rather bored of being alone. She was, is, so intriguing… An intrusive life in my forever. I wanted to keep it, and her, beside me until she either became just as boring as everything else or succumbed to the venom in her body."

"I will meet with the Wolves and plead for mercy on your behalf." Carlisle's decision was snap and even Edward couldn't see the reason behind it- the older vampire was blocking the other by focusing on a surgery in his mind. Edward almost snarled at not knowing what his 'father' was thinking. "I do not know what they will do, Edward, so it is best that you remain here for now."

"Sorry, Carlisle, but I can't do that." Edward looked sorrowful and guilty now, a moment of humanity showing beneath the darkness that had become him. "I have a flight to catch soon, so I will at least be well out of reach of the wolves for the time being."

"Where are you going?" Esme asked as she stepped back up next to her husband.

"I have been summoned to Volterra, by Aro himself." Edward's words were clipped and hidden meaning abounded beneath his tone. "I fear that once my meeting is finished that the wolves will find themselves to be without anywhere to run."

"What did you do, Edward?" Carlisle's voice was tight and his eyes alight with anger seething beneath the surface.

"I informed Aro and the Volturi of Bella and her gift, her knowledge of our kind, my attempt to enthrall her… and most recently the wolves." Edward shrugged nonchalantly as he spoke, his obvious apathy grinding against his parents. "I have been in contact with the Volturi for a while now, informing them of my attempt- and of our pet as they called her."

"Why would you doom Bella? You once spoke of loving her, Edward… how could you sell her soul in such a way?" Esme wished very much that she could cry as her voice crackled.

"I don't like having that which is mine stolen from me. I am rather… possessive… in that way." Edward turned to leave at this. He stopped long enough to spare a single look of his shoulder at the two vampires before him. "Pick your side carefully, Carlisle, your history with Aro won't save you this time."

With that Edward left at a blurring pace, running faster than he could have on animal blood. Carlisle snarled and almost made to follow him- stopping only when he felt the grip of his mate's hand.

"We can't follow him." Esme's voice was soft and loving, she held her husband for a moment and stepped back. "We must go to Forks; I won't leave my children alone."

"And what of your oldest son?" Carlisle was curious as he considered the golden eyes of his wife.

"A mother's love never fades, though I am saddened for him." Esme matched Carlisle look for look as they stood in silence. Finally, Carlisle relaxed and nodded in silence. "Come, we must hurry."

With that the two found themselves hurriedly packing for a trip that would either bring their family back together or break it forever.

* * *

The days had recently been sunny and beautiful, a fact that Bella was thoroughly enjoying after the fiasco that had been the return of Jasper, Emmett, and Rosalie. She had managed to slip away for the first time in nearly a week, a feat managed only because Emmett had taken serious pity on his little sister and had distracted Paul and Jake- both of whom hadn't let her out of their respective sights since the meeting.

She was wandering the woods behind Sam's house, never venturing too far from the path that had been cut through them by the traveling of her Pack. The sun filtered through the great trees as she walked with the birds singing lightly and brightly, their song seemed to fill her very soul with weightlessness.

However, even with all the calm and serenity of the moment… Bella felt tense, unbalanced. Unease dropped her stomach to her feet as she kept walking through the calm day, her mind wandering through the events of the past few months of her life. The focus was of the last few weeks, to be sure, as she still hadn't managed to fully comprehend that she was not only an _imprint_ but an imprint to the _whole pack_ \- not just Paul.

Paul. God, even the _thought_ of him sent shivers down her spine. It had been days since she had set foot of the reservation- a choice made by her father and her husband. Husband, that word was still so foreign sounding to her. It was different, alien sounding. She always thought that marriage changed a person, but Bella felt no different than normal. It was an odd thing.

The leaves and underbrush crackled under her feet, the sound becoming like a drum under the notes of the birds. Yet in a single moment all noises stopped, the world seemed to freeze- hair running up Bella's neck stood straight on edge as two very unfamiliar howls split the breezy Spring air.

"Those aren't normal wolves," Bella murmured to herself as she fought the urge to return to Sam's cabin. "But I don't know those howls at all."

* * *

The air in Sam's cabin had suddenly become tense, all bodies freezing in their actions as howling ripped through the air. A single howl first, frightened and frightening. The shock came a moment later when a second howl, a mournful and angry howl, joined the first.

There were _two_ new pack members.

"Outside, everyone." Sam ordered, he was already stripping as he ran out the sliding glass door. "Embry, stay back with the imprints and our friends."

Emmett bristled a little at not being allowed to follow the wolves but at the same time beamed with pride for a moment. Sam had referred to them, he and Jasper, as _friends_. Not enemies, not even treaty holders. _Friends._ That was a moment that the vampire had hoped would come eventually, though he didn't think it would come so soon.

"Wait, Sam!" Embry called out as he counted heads and noticed a glaring, soul-wrenching, problem.

Sam turned his body as he exploded into fur just off the porch, his eyes looking at Embry with a clear questioning gaze.

"Is Bella out there? She isn't in here."

Those words stabbed every Pack member in the heart, Paul worst of all, as the realization that Bella was in fact _not_ at the cabin at all became a clear reality.

 **Paul:** _I've gotta find her, Sam!_ Paul was sidling like a horse, itching to follow one of the many scents he could find. Adrenaline was rushing through his system, his body tensing.

 **Sam:** _I don't know who has phased, Paul. You're my best fighter, and if they won't come quietly I'm going to need you._

Voices, jumbled and incoherent, finally broke through into the pack mind. There were clearly two different voices, both familiar to all wolves involved. Sam focused on one of them intensely, hoping to find a way into their current and most recent memories- it was a possible way to track where they were, or who they were.

 **Leah:** _Seth! Where are you? Where am I? What is happening?!_

 **Sam:** _Impossible._

 **Jake:** _Impossible or not I think we have our answer on who just phased. And we need to find them,_ _ **both**_ _of them._

 **Sam:** _Paul, Jared, come with me. We'll go after Leah- she's going to be one hell of a challenge and I_ _ **will**_ _need you both. Jake, take Quil and find Seth. He's young, and should be easier to find and manage._

 **Jake:** _Be careful, Sam._

With that the two younger wolves ran off in the direction of a clearing in Seth's mind that they recognized. It wasn't too far into the woods outside of the Clearwater home, and they hoped to pick up the trail from there.

 **Paul:** _Sam, Bella is in these woods. With two new wolves, one of which sounds_ _ **angry**_ _. You can't honestly expect me to leave her alone and hope nothing happens!_

 **Sam:** _I can and I do. Bella can protect herself- I'm sure of it. Besides, no wolf_ _ **should**_ _be able to attack her once they get a look in to her eyes._

 **Paul:** _You don't know that, Sam!_

The two wolves sank to attack positons, Jared stepping between them silently. Just before he could enter the conversation a new set of thoughts from Leah had all three of them frozen in pure terror.

 **Leah:** _I don't know what's going on. Where am I going? Why am I running? Wait, what's that smell? It's nice, spicy… makes me hungry. Must find this scent._ A fierce howl ran through the air again, the howl of a hunt. _Wonder what it is. Hungry, angry… too many thoughts, don't want to think. Food, run. Kill._

 **Sam:** _Find her, now!_

Leah was succumbing to the wolf in her- a wolf that shouldn't even exist according to all lore of their people. She was allowing the animal full control, and it was far too likely that the animal wasn't going to _care_ about looking at Bella's eyes before it devoured her.

The wolves launched themselves with enough force to throw what seemed like a truckload of dirt at the side of Sam's house. They had to find Leah, _now_.

* * *

Bella was quickly beginning to regret her decision to not return to Sam's when she had the chance. Her spine tingled and her chest ached as she ran through the woods. Something was telling her to run, and the near pounding sound of a rather _large_ animal coming close was pushing her forward.

She needed safety, and fast. Bella began to think in her mind for somewhere to go, a place she could be safe from whatever it was that was chasing. A place that she could rest and recuperate, a place with answers to the questions that had led her into the woods in the first place.

Panting and snarling behind Bella caused her to run even faster, full tilt towards a grove of trees. If she could just find one to climb… She hit the bushes between two trees and pushed herself forward, hoping beyond all hope that her death would be quick and without pain.

The steps came closer as Bella forced her way into the leaves. Silence fell suddenly as the branches gave way to her.

Leah jumped into the bushes after the girl she had been chasing. Her body rolled on the other side, yet there was no sign of her prey.

 **Leah:** _Where did she go?! I know she was here, I could almost_ _ **taste**_ _her!_

 **Sam:** _Leah!_

The voice of her ex-fiance did nothing to soothe the savage beast inside as three wolves came forward towards her. Two of them seemed ready to pounce and tear her apart, but it was the great black one in the middle she was focused on. Leah would know Sam anywhere- even if she was fighting whatever it was inside her that wanted to submit to him in the moment.

 **Leah:** _Sam!_ A snarling growl tore through her throat as she jumped forward at the larger wolf. _You fucking piece of shit!_

Leah lunged at Sam, who ran towards the new wolf with the speed and weight of a freight train. The two clashed with a sound like thunder as Jared and Paul stood back, unsure what to do in the moment. Deciding to leave the ex-lovers to it, they waited on the edges of the fight and tried to ignore the insults Leah threw at their Alpha, with him pleading for her to just _listen_ in return.

They'd tire out eventually, though this particular part of the forest would feel the effects of this fight for years to come.

* * *

As her body burst through the underbrush at the edge of the grove, Bella gave a shout while she fell into open grass. Looking up at the scene before her the girl's mouth dropped open in astonishment, eyes taking in the old cabin and great fire.

"I'm so dead." Bella whispered to herself, not even wanting to stand.

" _Not yet, Seeker. But you've certainly gave it a good try recently, haven't you?"_ An ancient seeming presence beside her made Bella jump as she looked in to the eyes of a blind Native woman. _"You're certainly a sight for sore eyes, I was beginning to wonder if you would ever find your way here."_

"Where _is_ here?" Bella asked in a whispered tone, her breath coming back to normal as she spoke. The woman held a hand out to her and helped the younger girl to her feet, both surveyed the meadow and its charmed setting in silence for a moment. "This place, it seems so familiar… But I can't remember…"

" _This is the home of the Keeper, the birthplace of my People, and where the ties to the land come to rest."_ The Keeper looked back at Bella for a moment before stepping towards the cabin and fire. _"Come, we have much to talk about. You look hungry, and my table is always open to those who Seek."_

* * *

 _A/N: I am **BACK!** Sorry for the long hiatus, computer issues put me out of action for a little while since typing this chapter, and the following, on a phone was one hell of a daunting task and I was most definitely not up to it, let me tell you. Anyway, here is Chapter 42- and yes I do know that it's a little cut up and that there is a bit of a time jump (no more than 5 days, however). The next two chapters will be more meaty and a little more put together. And if I edit it how it's currently written the next chapter will have **smut**_ _involved, just a warning to my lovely readers._

 _Thank you to everyone who has stuck through my weird schedule and the oddities that is this story and its plot. Love to all of you!_


	43. A Great Wolf and his Wife

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

"You keep calling me a Seeker, but I don't understand." Bella said once again as she finished the meal of smoked fish and wild tubers. It had been an earthy meal, filling in a way Bella had never known before.

" _You could not have found this place unless you sought it out- that is the nature of the Spirit's gifts."_ The Keeper replied kindly in her ethereal yet grandmotherly tone. _"And I can sense that you have many questions, young one."_

Bella sighed and rest her head on her knees as she stared at the great fire. She was hesitant to talk to the woman, not because she didn't trust her but because many of the questions she wanted to ask did not have a happy answer. Or easy ones.

"I do have questions, Keeper." Bella replied finally, still not taking her eyes off the dancing flames in front of her. "But I don't know what to ask, how to ask… I don't know if the answers will give me more comfort or more questions."

" _Oh, my child."_ The Keeper came to rest next to Bella, her aged hand covering one of the young girl's own as she smiled in a nurturing way to the forlorn teen. _"As One Who Would Know, your questions are as numbered as the stars in the sky with answers as twisted as a spider's web. All you need to do to be granted a measure of peace is to ask."_

Bella pondered what the phrase 'one who would know' meant, but decided to leave it alone for the current moment- she already had enough questions that didn't seem to have answers. Picking through the nagging words in her mind, the dark voices in the blackness of her consciousness, she tried to find the _right_ question.

"Is that place of darkness real, Keeper? And the Great Wolf who visits me there… Is he, was he, a man once?" Bella decided to get straight to the point as she felt no sense in beating around any bushes to spare her feelings.

" _The In Between? Yes, it is a real place- a hidden and secret place that a pitiful few ever enter in their given lives upon this earth."_ The Keeper searched Bella's face as she spoke, being blind had never stopped her from observing those around her closely. _"I would venture a guess that you have been to yours- and this Great Wolf has visited you there?"_ Bella only nodded to the Keeper, not trusting her voice at all. The older woman chuckled as she continued to speak. _"You are blessed, child, to have one such as Taha Aki visiting you in that way."_

"Taha Aki?" Bella was confused as she stood and began to pace around the fire. "Why does that name… why does it sound so familiar?"

" _Because Taha Aki was the last of the great Spirit warriors of old. And the first of his kind, of the Wolves. His blood has passed through the Tribe, down through the generations and to the Wolves as you know of them now."_ The Keeper was watching Bella keenly with her unseeing eyes. It didn't necessarily unnerve the girl, but it certainly didn't help the feelings she was trying to stomach at the present moment. _"He appears only to those who are worthy, and only when they are in the direst of circumstances."_

"You know a lot about Taha Aki, don't you Keeper?" Bella's eyes were sharp as she asked another question. The Keeper smiled in a soft, knowing, way as she nodded to the young woman. Bella pondered this for a moment before she asked another pressing question. "How do you know Taha Aki?"

" _Have the Wolves told you their Legends and histories?"_ Bella tilted her head from side to side in a 'some of them, maybe' manner. The girl nearly smacked herself in her face before she spoke, she had forgotten the Keeper was blind.

"Some of them, Keeper. And I do not know which ones are actually rooted in truth… Obviously, the wolves… But Jake only told me so many that day, and I haven't had the time to really learn more of them."

" _If you will allow an old woman a moment, young one, I will tell you the legend of the Third Wife and her wolf, Taha Aki."_ The Keeper waited for Bella to come back around the fire and sit beside her, a small noise of acceptance from the girl's mouth. _"Countless moons ago, when the Tribe and People were younger here and numbered few, Taha Aki and the great Spirit warriors protected the People from enemies physical and spiritual- it was their job for the Tribe. However, Taha Aki was usurped of his power by another stealing his body while he was out of it- a dangerous thing. In his fear for his People, Taha Aki summoned a great wolf to kill the usurper, the wolf failed initially because of the other warriors of the tribe. But that wolf gave Taha Aki an idea. To have a living body meant the wolf also had a soul and through the great Spirits he pleaded with the wolf for use of its body, to share the space between them both. The wolf obliged him, and through this Taha Aki could destroy the usurper."_

"So Taha Aki, the Great Wolf from my dreams… is the _first_ wolf?" Bella tried not to allow her surprise to break through her voice, and failed miserably.

" _Yes, young one."_

"Where does the Third Wife come in, then?"

" _Through sharing his physical form with that of the wolf's Spirit, Taha Aki became forever living. He married twice, both of those wives bearing him children in kind- sons and daughters alike."_ The Keeper's face was almost glowing as she spoke, Bella watching carefully. _"After his second wife had passed, some years after, Taha Aki found his imprint- his true mate. By this time, he had lived through the lifetimes of three men, seeing his children and grandchildren grow and love, live and die."_

"That must have been so lonely…" Bella whispered, tears forming in her eyes.

" _He was lonely in a way, but he had his People and they accepted and loved him for he was their Chief for many years, and their Protector for much longer."_ The Keeper's voice was nonchalant and even toned. _"When he met his Third Wife, however, Taha Aki felt a pull in his very soul to her. She was the sun to him, and he reveled and lived greatly in the light she provided for him. So much so that he renamed the woman, when they married she became Tkalis- meaning Sun."_

"She was okay with this?" Bella was confused, and almost angry, for the woman in the Keeper's story. To lose your name, your identity, in marriage seemed almost unfair to her.

" _Tkalis was proud to be given such a name by her love, and to bear children and raise them in her light."_ The Keeper continued calmly. _"Taha Aki and Tkalis had many children together, the spirit warrior finally giving up his body to aging and life without the wolf's daily influence. Years passed in peace, until one day trouble began to brew in the Northern tribes- the Makah had many women go missing from their numbers. Tensions grew between the two tribes- placated only after the wolves of the Quileute went in search of answers."_

"Answers?"

" _T_ _he wolf-warriors could still read each other's thoughts while in their wolf forms, just like their ancestors had while in their spirit forms. They knew that none of their number was to blame for the missing women. Taha Aki did not want to have a war on his hands, for he was no longer a warrior to lead his people. He charged his oldest wolf-son, Taha Wi, with finding the true culprit before hostilities began between the Tribes. Taha Wi led the five other wolves in his pack on a search through the mountains, looking for any evidence of the missing Makahs. They came across something they had never encountered before - a strange, sweet scent in the forest that burned their noses to the point of pain. Taha Wi sent the younger wolves back to the Tribe as they followed the scent further and further North, away from the people. Taha Wi and his two brothers never returned from their search."_ The Keeper downcast her eyes in respect to the dead before continuing her story. _"Taha Aki mourned for his lost sons, and in mourning went to the Makah chief. The Makah chief saw that his grief was genuine and knew that the wolves were not to blame for the missing women- tensions lowered and the Tribes went back to a life of peace."_

"People were still afraid though, weren't they?" Bella had been listening with rapt attention, the story wholly engrossing.

" _Fear existed still, yes. The Makahs sent for our wolves once again a year or two later- for more of their women had gone missing. The few warriors we had left went to their aid at once, only one returned. Yaha Uta, the eldest son of Taha Aki and Tkalis, came back to his people with pieces of the creature. He told a story of a great battle, and the loss of his brothers in their fight against a creature as white as the snow yet as hard as the rocks of the cliffs. He spoke of the creature's speed and ferocity within the fight, and of the fact that the Cold One still continued to mangle and tear apart his brother even after he had removed its head from its shoulders."_

Bella considered this for a moment. The Cullens had always told her that the only way to fully kill one of their kind was to burn them, as they had burnt James in Phoenix… She just had never thought about _why_ the vampires had to be burned to be killed. It should have been obvious, but she must not have wanted to think about the possibility of a body that could act without its head.

" _The Elders wished to see the pieces of the creature, so they were presented. And upon being laid out for the People to see with their own eyes… a miraculous and terrifying thing began to happen. A hand moved on its own, attempting to grasp the arm that lay near it- the Cold One was not dead and its body was attempting to repair itself. The Elders instantly decided to burn the pieces of the creature, and with a great fire and a cloud of choking and vile smoke the creature was destroyed. Taha Aki and the chiefs after him have all carried a part of the thing's ashes, to warn against the Cold One's return should it try to return from the fires."_

"Was the Cold One alone?"

" _No, and the People fear for this as they had only one warrior left- the young Yaha Uta."_ The Keeper seemed sadder than she had for the rest of the story, Bella reminded herself to ask about this when the woman was done. There was more here than she was being told. _"The mate of the Cold One arrived not long after the burning, not even a full moon cycle passed before she came to the People seeking revenge. As she came to the village in the morning sun many of the Tribe likened her to a Goddess of the Dawn, as the sun was shining and glittering off her pale white skin and long golden hair. Of the twenty who witnessed her approach, two survived- and they only because the woman became distracted from her grief-fueled revenge by the blood of her victims."_

"She was going to kill the whole tribe?"

" _That was her intention, yes. Yaha Uta became a wolf at the news of her presence and went to fight her- she was not the warrior that her mate had been but Yaha Uta was alone in this fight. With nothing to distract her fury, Yaha Uta fell to the blood drinker. In rage at seeing his son's death, Taha Aki limped forward to challenge the woman- transforming into his wolf as he roared in his rage. The wolf was great, white-muzzled, and filled with a rage the People had not seen in their lifetimes with Taha Aki living among them. Tkalis, still in shock in seeing her son die before her eyes, held no hope that Taha Aki would win the fight against the Cold Woman- and took matters into her own hands to sway the fight towards the People."_

"She what?"

" _Tkalis did not believe that Taha Aki would win, even for being a great Wolf and all. He was older, slower, and even his rage did not seem enough to give him the fight to his favor."_ The Keeper was focused almost wholly on the fire now, seeming to forget about Bella's presence. _"She grabbed a knife from one of her younger sons, still too young to have found their wolves, and ran forward to the fight. The Cold Woman laughed and ignored the grieving mother- what could a knife do against her rock-hard skin? Tkalis fell at the feet of the Cold Woman and stabbed the knife into her heart- her own blood providing the distraction that Taha Aki had needed to get a hold of the creature. Tkalis' youngest sons, not yet men, found their wolves in that moment and joined their father in ripping the Cold One apart even though they were not yet men."_

"She killed herself for her people?" Bella found herself saddened by this thought, even though it did give her an idea of how to deal with Victoria if the time ever became dire. Blood would distract even the most disciplined of vampires, Bella knew enough to know that.

" _She sacrificed her life for her People, yes. And the Spirit Warriors lived on after her sacrifice- though only ever in numbers of three. They never needed more, and the knowledge of how to destroy the Cold Ones passed from Father to Son, spirit to spirit. The time came that the warriors of the tribe stopped becoming wolves upon reaching manhood- only when a Cold One was near enough to threaten the People."_ The Keeper finally looked away from the fire, her cloudy eyes coming to rest on Bella's tear-filled ones. _"Taha Aki remained with the body of his wife for a day, mourning his lost love and growling at any who dared approach- even his own sons. The next dawn he ran to the forest, and was not seen again by his People until generations later. He has no physical body, the wolf having long since passed into the Earth, but he has survived through the Spirits and protects his Tribe still."_

"You care for Taha Aki a lot, don't you?" Bella inquired, trying to get information in the most tactful way possible as she searched the older woman's face for clues to what she sought.

" _All who know the tales care for the First Wolf, young one."_ The Keeper replied, her mouth twitching a little as she spoke. Bella picked up on this and continued forward with her questions, pressing the matter gently onward.

"That's not what I meant, Keeper." Bella began as she reached for the Keeper's hand, holding it gently in her own. "You _care_ for Taha Aki… You're old enough that generations of this Tribe can recall stories of the woman in the woods- Paul and Jake told me about them. This meadow is your home, connected to the Land and People… And I'm willing to bet that it doesn't truly exist in a physical sense, does it?"

" _The Spirits have granted this place sanctuary, yes. It exists and doesn't exist at the same time."_

"If all of that is true, then you were alive once. And in your life, I'm willing to guess that you were important to the Tribe, to the People… important enough that the Spirits would send you back to them in times of need and guidance." Bella stood up and paced around the fire, still watching the woman closely. The Keeper made no signs of movement, attacking or otherwise, as the girl pondered a theory in her mind. "You had a name once, didn't you? A life, a husband, children… All of those things belonged to you once, didn't they?"

" _All spirits have names, young one. Whether they acknowledge them, or are acknowledged by others, is the root of the power of a name."_ The Keeper's reply was cryptic and bland.

"Your name… the root of who you are, were, it is old… This place would have had meaning to that name, a tie to the physical power of the People and the Spirits." Bella continued to pace the fire until she made up her mind to run with the theory, coming to rest beside the woman again. Kneeling until she was resting on her knees in front of the Keeper, Bella spoke again softly. "Tkalis?"

" _Yes, child."_

* * *

Leah and Sam had finally managed to tire themselves out of fighting, a large circular hole in the forest where trees once stood was the only real damage that would last longer than a few hours at most.

 **Leah:** _You are still a piece of shit, Sam._

 **Sam:** _I know that, Leah. And I did, do, love you. When you have the time, take the chance ask any of your new Brothers what it was like, they've seen it in my mind… They know, and I want you to know too._

 **Leah:** _Not exactly interested in forgiving you right now, Sam. I already have to_ _ **obey**_ _you- and that's enough to make me want to fucking gag as it is._

 **Jared:** _Not to break up this not-so-heartwarming Pack welcome, but we've got a problem. Paul is ready to kill_ _ **both**_ _of you and it's only getting worse the longer we have to sit here and not be out there looking for Bella._

 **Leah:** _Bella? What's she got to do with anything?_

 **Paul:** _Bella is the girl you chased into the bushes, Leah. She's the one who smelled so good to you, the one your wolf was intent on trying to eat apparently._ Paul was growling, hackles up, as he leaned down towards the earth as if to pounce at his Pack Sister. Sam gave a warning growl in return, which Paul immediately ignored. _Don't you dare act high and mighty, Sam… if it were Emily in these woods, alone, then you'd be just as insane as I am right fucking now._

 **Sam:** _Insane or not, Paul, attacking Leah isn't going to do anything to help the situation._

 **Leah:** _I don't think I wanted to_ _ **eat**_ _her, anyway. I just really needed to be with her, that smell was intoxicating and it made me hunger… but not for food, it was different… like my soul was hungry, not my body._

 **Jared:** _That's one way of putting it. But we can explain all of this later, I'm beginning to get just as antsy as Paul is- I need to know where Bella is too._

 **Leah:** _Seriously, guys, what is Bella to all of you? Like, I love that woman as my own sister and even_ _ **I**_ _don't need to be so far up her ass. She's capable, you all know that, right? Human or not she's not as fucking breakable as you're acting._

 **Sam:** _We can explain, Leah, but this is best explained when we can_ _ **all**_ _be together- not spread throughout the forest._

 **Jake:** _Am I interrupting something? Because we have Seth chilled right out, he's here with us at your house Sam. The Whitlock vampires left while we were out, Embry said Emmett had an idea about something and needed to check on it. Apparently, they'll call- but I am losing my mind with this kid, man. He. Won't. Shut. Up._

 **Leah:** _That's my brother for you, Jacob Black. And don't you_ _ **dare**_ _think of insulting him around me- I'll rip your fucking tail off._

 _ **Jake:**_ _Language, Leah! There are kids in this conversation, think of their ears!_

 **Leah:** _Who the hell are you talking about?_

 **Jake:** _I am still a kid, chick._

 **Leah:** _That's it, I'm kicking your ass when I get to Sam's._

 **Jake:** _Have fun trying. Sam, seriously though- you coming back any time soon? Seth is more curious than a damn kid in a candy store and I'm running out of excuses as to why you're taking so long with Leah…_

 **Sam:** _Bella is missing._ Jake instantly began to growl across the distance and Sam silenced him with an order. _Jake, shut up! Bella was being chased by Leah who felt a need to find a scent she could smell in the woods- and Bella ran through some bushes and then disappeared. We can't even smell her anymore, and there aren't any other smells either._

 **Jake:** _Any of you guys think about the Keeper?_

 **Sam:** _Shit, no. Slipped my mind, but would Bella even be able to_ _ **make**_ _it to the Keeper? Don't the Spirits and the Land keep others out?_

 **Jake:** _It would- if she wasn't part of the People. The Spirits only keep away those who aren't of our People, but Bella has been for a while now- hasn't she?_

 **Sam:** _Good point. I'll send Paul to look for her, he's going to have the strongest connection to Bella across whatever barrier exists… He should make it to the Keeper faster than any of us if Bella really is with her._ With that thought the wolves all felt Jake's mind leave their own, it was an odd sensation for Leah- almost made her sick from the unsettling dizziness of it all. _Paul, go find Bella please. Bring her back to my cabin- we need to talk. And if the Keeper was right before, remember to bring the supplies. You'll need them._

 **Leah:** _Supplies? What?_

 **Jared:** _Long story, and trust me you don't want to know it all right now. Let's get back to Sam's, have something to eat, and at least try to get our feet back on the ground. Besides, both of you are covered in still healing gashes and eating might help._

 **Paul:** _Once I have Bella, I'll be there. Try not to eat_ _ **everything**_ _before I get there, because food is going to be amazing after all this shit._

* * *

Paul ran off into the bushes that Bella had disappeared in. He began to think hard about his mate, her safety and knowing for sure where she was, if she was safe. He needed to know if Bella was safe, _needed_ her in his arms. Paul also had to know if the Keeper had meant what she said before, if he would have to mark Bella once again using his new Pack Brother and Sister's blood.

He also wondered if Bella would feel any pain, and desperately hoped not.

Just as Paul was beginning to think that Bella may not have been with the Keeper, a familiar sensation began to tingle in the back of his mind. A distance was growing between himself and his Brothers, Sam and Jared's voices becoming unclear and almost hazy sounding as he stepped through a group of trees into the Keeper's familiar meadow.

His eyes tracked across the ground before they came to rest on his wife, mate, his love. Bella was resting on the ground near the fire, curled into a bit of a ball as she slept. She was safe, secure, and so relaxed in her sleep. A knot in his chest loosened as he found himself shifting back from wolf to man.

" _I was wondering when you would come for her, wolf."_ The Keeper said as she held up a pair of soft hide pants to him. She was sitting by the great fire watching some sort of small animal roast among the flames. _"She is alright, young wolf. Only tired, she and I found plenty of things to keep our minds and bodies busy while waiting. She'll be a great basket weaver someday, given practice."_

"I'm not only here for her, Keeper. We have new wolves to the Pack… And I… I need to know…" Paul found himself stuttering, trying to avoid the conversation to the best of his abilities. "I…"

" _You want to know if you must mark her again."_ The Keeper had always been a woman straight on the point. _"And the answer is yes, as I said before. With each new wolf added to the Pack she will need to have her mark renewed- at very minimum with the blood of the new members. However, the more of the Pack's blood is in the mark each time the stronger her bond to the Pack and the People become."_

"Will she feel pain?" Paul asked quietly, his eyes again going to Bella. "I would rather let Jake tear me apart then to hurt her."

" _She will feel nothing more than your teeth at her throat, young wolf. Marking is actually a pleasurable thing for both involved when done under the right circumstances, and at the most uncomfortable when done outside of those."_ The Keeper stood with Paul's help and walked from the fire to her hut, picking up the ancient bowl and knife. _"It is best, I believe, that you take these for now. You're going to need them more than I do."_

"Thank you, Keeper." Paul remarked, taking the bowl and knife from the woman. He knelt in front of her for a moment in respect, rising again when she lay her hand on his shoulder. "I will renew the mark as soon as possible with the new member's blood."

 _"_ The Keeper said as Paul walked to Belle and picked her up in his arms, cradling the sleeping form to his chest. The ancient woman followed the man and his mate as they came to the edge of the meadow and stepped through the barrier the Spirits had created so long ago.

" _ **It has been too long since you heard your name, Tkalis."**_ The Great Wolf stepped forward from the shadows of the firelight, coming to rest next to his mate and sitting there. _**"Too long since you remembered who you are, the sacrifice you made for your People."**_

" _The sacrifice I made for my people is something I know to my very spirit, my love."_ Tkalis, the Keeper, gave her furred mate a grasp around his neck. She burrowed her face in the thick fur of his throat as they embraced by the fire. _"Do you really think she will be ready to sacrifice just as much, if not more, when the time comes?"_

" _ **She is strong, a warrior. She is also soft, nurturing; a mother. The girl will be ready, I have seen it in her Spirit- she will be ready."**_

* * *

 _A/N: Thank you for being patient! This chapter took a little longer to get typed up since it is technically 2 handwritten chapters put together, my Beta and I couldn't really see a reason to cut it into 2 parts (aside from the length, and for that I apologize too!)_

 _I know that this crosses into weird territory, especially since I am giving an un-named Stephanie Meyer character a name but I do so in respect to the original material and claim nothing about the character other than what **I** have added to them and their story- the original material is owned by SM._

 _Thanks for sticking with me and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I will hopefully have a second one up today as well, it's being edited right now and shouldn't be too long._


	44. Testing Her Skills

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

Sam's house had never felt so full, both of people and of tension. Leah was doing her best to not tear people apart while she sat in at the table. She was silent, gripping her mug of 'calming' tea with hands that could have broken it a thousand times over and again. Her blood boiled at seeing Emily take inventory of Sam, her hands roaming skin that she had once touched, known, and loved.

Just as she went to stand, upper lip curling in a feral growl, a heavy and warm hand stopped her from making it more than an inch or so off the bench. Leah whipped her head around as her teeth came together in an audible click to find herself staring into the dark eyes of Jacob Black. The two wolves spoke without words, thoughts and imagery passing through only their eyes.

"Let's go outside, Leah. You look like you need air." Jake whispered to the only female wolf in the Pack, his eyes flicking from her to the door. It would require passing Sam and Emily who were in the kitchen but from the slight relaxation of her jawline, Jake was sure Leah would be able to do so. As the two weaved through the rest of the boys, Embry and Quill entertaining Seth with stories of their runs and run-ins with leeches, Jake turned to Sam as he got to the door. "No one else phase. We're going to run a circuit; Leah needs the air and I could use the exercise."

"Be careful. And if you find Paul and Bella bring them back with you- he's been gone a long time." Sam replied, not taking his eyes off Emily. Jake noticed that the action seemed almost forced, as if the Alpha wanted to look at Leah but couldn't make himself do it.

"Can do." Jake gave a half-assed salute to Sam as he walked through and closed the sliding glass door. Looking at Leah, who still had a glare like she wanted to eat people alive, he gave a small smile and walked to the woods. "Do you want some privacy? The guys don't give a shit anymore, but I know you're new to this whole thing."

"What are you talking about?" Leah kept stride with Jake as he walked, matching the length of his with her own. "Privacy?"

"Well," Jake started as he unbuttoned his shorts, they slipped to his hips as he walked. Leah caught herself glancing more than once at the way his muscles came together in a near-perfect 'V.' "Since the choice is either get naked or ruin your clothes… do you want privacy?"

Jake turned to look at Leah as he came to a full stop. He took his hands from the top of his shorts, the denim falling just a little further down. Leah clenched her jaw just a little as her eyes tracked downward again, she clenched her eyes shut and took a deep breath to calm herself. It was weird to her, this feeling. She'd seen Jake a million times, and many of them shirtless, but this was more intimate. And even though he was younger, and probably still innocent, since the kid pined for Bella, Leah found herself wanting to touch him.

Reaching up and pulling off the undershirt she had been using as a top, Leah just gave a cocky smile to Jake. "Who needs privacy? Jared already showed me _way_ more than I needed to see anyway… Apparently, our minds aren't as safe as we think they are."

"Depends on what you think about while a wolf, Leah." Jake slid his shorts down in a way that Leah would later call 'teasing,' though he wasn't doing it any different than normal. "See you in the woods then."

With that, Jake fell forward and exploded in his rather efficient way, paws hitting the ground instead of hands. Leah took a moment to admire the wolf in front of her before it ran off, Jake was lithe and graceful… She shook her head to void it of any and _all_ thoughts about Jake as she finished stripping and found the fire inside herself, a feeling of exquisite freedom as her human features faded into that of the wolf she felt as though she had been born to be.

 **Jake:** _Nice of you to join me, took you long enough didn't it?_

 **Leah:** _I'm not exactly an expert at this shit, Jake. You've got months on me when it comes to the whole shedding your skin thing._

 **Jake:** _Oh, god, don't call it that. Reminds me too much of snakes, and I don't like thinking of myself as a snake._

 **Leah:** _Aw, come on- you don't like being cunning and terrifying?_

 **Jake:** _That was not an invitation for sarcasm, Leah._

 **Leah:** _Could have fooled me._

The two wolves ran a full circuit to the North, playing chase more than actually scouting the area. There were faded smells of leeches that had passed through, Alice and Edward near the meeting place. Leah growled and nearly howled for backup when she came across newer scents, fresh scents, but Jake stopped her and explained that the leeches she was smelling were, in fact, _good_ leeches.

 **Jake:** _Not saying that I don't hate what they are- because I do. But it seems like, especially with the leader… it seems like they hate it just as much. Jasper is more than the monster he was turned into, and none of the Whitlock coven had a choice in their change. Jasper doesn't talk about his, but Emmett and I have had transformation talks over video games… the guy isn't all bad, and takes his immortality in stride._

 **Leah:** _I'm not saying I won't give them a chance, but a leech is a leech to me._

 **Jake:** _Hey, a chance is better than they're used to getting, I'm sure._

The two wolves turned as they came across the northern border, running back south along the edge of the reservation land. A smell in the forest drew them inward as they came closer to where Leah and Sam had fought out some of their frustrations earlier in the night. It was Paul's scent with a much-muted Bella in tow.

 **Jake:** _If you want some time alone, I need to talk to Paul. You're welcome to join us but since I don't have any extra girl clothes stashed…_

 **Leah:** _I know how to be naked, Jake. Besides- from what I've gathered from Jared and Embry it isn't going to phase Paul one bit if I'm naked in front of him._

 **Jake:** _Not anymore anyway._

The two wolves caught up with Paul quickly, he was in human form and carrying the still-sleeping Bella in his arms. A bowl and knife in the hand he was resting on Bella's back told Jake all he needed to know about whether or not Paul was going to have to renew the mark on his best friend- it seemed the Keeper had not been lying when she said that it would need to be redone with every new pack member.

Phasing back mid-stride, Jake fell into step with Paul and reached around Bella's body to grab the bowl and knife. He didn't like the cutting instrument being so close to Bella, not when one wrong move could cut her to shreds with the sharp-as-new ancient blade.

"She was with the Keeper I take it?" Jake said as Leah transformed behind them and jogged a bit to catch up. Paul barely spared the naked woman a glance, though Jake found himself side eyeing the beautifully lean body. Her skin was perfect, and looked softer than silk.

"Yup." Paul popped the 'p' loudly as he kept his eyes forward. "Apparently, she tired herself out learning things like basket weaving with the woman. The Keeper says she could become good at it one day, given practice. Makes me wonder if she could ever match up to Embry's mom and her weaving skills."

"Probably not, but she could try." Leah's voice was lighthearted, a joking tone without even the undertone of animosity that Jake had come to expect in the last few hours of his life. It seemed, thankfully, that with him and Paul she could be herself- away from the pain she was living with every day of her life. "What's with the sacrificial equipment, Jake?"

Paul and Jake stopped instantly, neither of them looking forward to having to be in the same _room_ as Leah when Sam had to explain the situation with Bella and Paul… let alone be the ones to actually tell her themselves. The two had grown close in Bella's time on the reservation after her attack in September- Leah liked the girl for reasons unknown to the guys, and Leah was now one hell of a force to be reckoned with.

"Guys?" Leah asked again, looking from Paul to Jake with calculating eyes. "Whatever it is I suggest telling me now." When the boys still didn't say anything, she continued and narrowed her eyes further. "If you don't tell me _right now_ I will wake up Bella and ask her."

"Wouldn't help you much- she doesn't know what they're for." Paul replied in an almost bored manner. "But since I would prefer her to get as much sleep as she can, I'll tell you if you promise not to rip me to fucking shreds."

"I can promise to try." Leah cocked her hips, completely comfortable in her nakedness with the two men in front of her. She noticed that Jake was having trouble not looking, but Paul was ignoring her completely.

"I need them to mark Bella." Paul said upfront. Leah growled and almost lunged at him before he continued. "Slow your roll, sister. I don't need to use them _on_ her. I need them to use on _us_ , the Pack. I could use anything, I guess, but this is what the Keeper has given me to use for this express purpose."

"But why do you need to make the Pack bleed to mark Bella?"

"The Keeper explained it better than I can- but I'll try." Jake said with a sigh when Paul looked over at the future Alpha. "Okay, so… There's this thing that wolves do called _imprinting_. It's what happens when the wolf finds the spirit that compliments their own and balances out the fury that comes with being a wolf. It's what happened when Sam looked at Emily, and when we _all_ look at Bella."

"What do you mean, when we all look at Bella?" Leah almost laughed. "I may be a tomboy but I'm no lesbian… not that there's anything wrong with that, but Bella's just not my type, guys."

Paul rolled his eyes and spoke in a near laugh. "Not in _that_ way, Leah. Jeez. What happens when the Pack, as wolves, look at Bella is like a secondary imprint. Not a sexual or romantic thing, but deeply connecting either way."

"So like a best friend forever?" The female wolf was piecing together the puzzling parts of everything she'd learned over the last few hours- from her Pack mate's minds and their words. "Or something deeper than that?"

"Try something that ties her to the Pack, the tribe, and the very land itself." Jake replied sardonically. "Well, that's what the Keeper told us anyway."

"So what do you have to do to mark Bella, Paul?" Leah turned her eyes to Paul again, wanting to avoid the looks of Jake.

"To mark her in the way that the Keeper said that I need to it takes cooperation from the entire Pack." Paul started, quickening his pace as they came closer to where Sam's cabin was. "I will use the knife to cut my Pack, one by one, and collect their blood in the bowl. I don't need much, so that's not that big of deal… And I don't even really need _everyone's_ blood this time- the more the better but I don't need it."

"What do you do with the blood?"

"Once I have the blood I will bite Bella where I've already marked her, right there on her neck." Paul motioned to the mark with his eyes, Leah following the look and found a mark that wasn't the same as the rest of Bella's scars. "I have to bite it again until I taste her blood, meaning I've broken the skin and reached the body beneath. Without licking the wound, to avoid my saliva from healing it, I take my Brother's, now Sister's too, bloods in my mouth and lick them across the wound. That way, as the wound heals our energies are left behind, binding her to us in blood and life."

"That's some creepy shit, Paul." Leah laughed and clapped him on the back, causing Bella to stir just a little, but the girl didn't wake. "I may not like the idea of it- but if it's what the Pack has to do then it's what the Pack has to do, right?"

Paul stopped for a second, waving Jake on when the younger man looked at him. Leah stayed with Paul and they looked at each other silently while Jake kept walking. Once Paul decided it was far enough even his wolf enhanced hearing wouldn't be able to hear them _completely_ , he talked.

"For someone who hates pretty much _everyone_ , and especially Sam… You're taking all of this much better than I could have ever thought was possible." Paul began, looking Leah up and down for a moment. "Not that the thought of a woman being a wolf was even something possible until today- but weirder things have happened around here, I guess."

"I don't like people, and I still kind of _hate_ Sam… but, even though I don't want to forgive and I know I'll never forget…" Leah turned her head to look at the direction Jake had walked, her skin rippled with goosebumps as she thought of the younger man. "There are perks to playing along."

"Would one of those perks have the name of Jacob Black?" Paul cocked his eyebrow and smirked at Leah in a knowing way.

"Whether or not it does, if you say one fucking think in front of Sam… but, even though I don't want to forgive and I know I'll never forget…" Leah turned her head to look at the direction Jake had walked, her skin rippled with goosebumps as she thought of the younger man. "There are perks to playing along."

"Would one of those perks have the name of Jacob Black?" Paul cocked his eyebrow and smirked at Leah in a knowing way.

"Whether it does or not, if you say one fucking think in front of _anyone_ else I will end your life. Do you hear me?" Leah's voice was intense, but the face she gave Paul was the complete opposite. Paul understood, however, especially since he had a reputation to maintain as well as the unrelenting angry fighter. Not that he didn't live up to it well, but still.

"We're almost back at Sam's, aren't we?" Leah asked quietly as she heart the boisterous laughs of the other boys. "Shit, my clothes are near his porch."

"Just phase and go grab them- if you're gentle you won't destroy them in your teeth." Paul rolled his eyes with a chuckle. As he started walking again, Leah had her eyes closed and was concentrating on trying to become a wolf again. "Then get some privacy, change back, and get dressed. If you're done before I get there let them know I'm almost back with Bella."

"Jake has probably already done that." Leah said as she fell to her knees and changed to a wolf. She charged around Paul with a leap and kept running towards Sam's house, he had a lot on his mind and wasn't ungrateful for the silence- though he had enjoyed the company of his Pack Mates.

What if Bella rejected the renewal of the mark? Would it weaken the bond between her and the Pack? Could it kill her? And if she _did_ reject it, why?

They had made progress over the last few days, she was staying between his house and Sam's- Charlie was in the process of selling their Forks home and moving to the reservation with the approval of the Chief and enough of the elders, though the widow Akil and Old Quil had fought and resisted the decision harshly.

Bella began to stir in his arms, a soft groan escaping her lips as she tried to stretch out. She tensed almost immediately when she seemed to realize that she wasn't laying on the ground anymore. Her eyes flew open in fear with a gasp, and then gasped again when she met the intense stare of Paul. She squirmed against him in such a way that made him chuckle, he let her down gently as she scrambled to find her bearings.

"What? I was… Wait…" Bella shook her head a little, obviously fuzzy from sleep. "I was with that woman; we were basket weaving. Tka-" Bella started to say something and then thought better of it, changing her words around almost instantly. "The Keeper."

"I came and got you, little Swan." Paul smiled as he gently reached for Bella, pulling her into his body. Hey eyes roamed up and down his chest, resting at his hips- she seemed intrigued by the soft hide pants he was wearing. They were traditional in make and from the look on Bella's face and the new smell drifting between them- she liked how they looked on him. Paul filed that away for later. "We're needed at Sam's- there's two new wolves to add to the Pack. And one of them is already a friend of yours."

"What?" Bella cocked her head from side to side as she tried to figure out who Paul could be talking about. "I have many friends on the reservation."

"This one will make you happy, I promise." Paul smiled as he put his arm around Bella's waist and kept walking. The silence between the couple was comfortable and pleasant, neither wanted anything else as their bodies seemed to meld together in their steps.

"What do I get if I'm not?" Bella said in a teasing tone, side-eyeing Paul in a quick glance.

"I'll make it up to you, I promise." Paul smirked as he moved his hand down to Bella's rear and gave a quick, teasing, squeeze of the flesh beneath her jeans. Bella squeaked and fell out of step for a moment before Paul moved his hand away and back to her waist as if nothing had happened.

"That wasn't nice." Bella pouted at Paul as she spoke, her lower lip bulging.

"I'm not nice." Paul's laugh drove into Bella's very core, making her shiver.

The two walked silently from then on as the laughter from the house grew louder, Paul had pressed his finger to his lips when they entered the wolves' hearing distance. Bella nodded in understand and kept their playful banter sealed as she walked with Paul.

"Is every-" Bella's question was cut in two as a furious growling split the night air. Not wasting any time, she ran forward only to be stopped by Paul's arm tightening around her waist almost painfully as Bella tried to get away. "What are you doing?! Something's wrong!"

"I know that," Paul's teeth were painfully clenched, his jaw as tight as the rest of his muscles. "But you're not going to run into what could be a literal _dog fight_ , Bella."

"Then come with me if you're so worried." Bella snapped at Paul, she looked him straight in the eyes to do so- he matched her look for look in long silent moments. After what felt like an eternity, though in reality was only seconds, Paul sighed and nodded. "Thank you."

The couple ran forward only to come up on the far side of what looked like one hell of a fight between two rather large wolves. It took Bella a moment to discern the colors of the wolves, though it was obvious by size alone that one was Sam- sleek and black and deadly. The second wolf, however, was only slightly smaller, just as fast and ferocious- and a russet red-brown.

 _Jake._

"What are you two doing?!" Bella yelled at the two wolves who were circling each other as they snarled, snapped, and foamed. "Jake! Sam! What are you doing?!"

Paul looked up at Jared to catch the other teen's eye. Jared's eyes were wide in something that looked like disbelief as he looked back at Paul and shook his head slightly, barely a movement. Suddenly he opened his mouth to speak, though he spoke to the one person Paul had _hoped_ would be good for once.

"Bella, what are you doing?!"

Paul looked beside himself, where Bella _had_ been, only to find that she had stepped forward into the fight- directly between the two angry wolves who were not backing down.

"I don't know what the problem is here, but I'm going to find out." Bella closed her eyes and concentrated. She opened them again just as Paul stepped forward to drag her from the circle, Sam snapped at the man. "I'm sorry, guys."

The air almost literally rippled as Bella focused on her connection with the wolves. The Keeper had told her that the connection between her Pack and her would strengthen with time- that she would soon be able to do much more than just channel their energy into self-defense. Bella was almost positive that this was pushing that bond to its current limits but this was just ridiculous and she was having _none_ of it.

All wolves, human bodied and phased in, began to groan in pain- all but maybe two collapsing into a heap on the ground. Emily watched as Bella breathed and almost seemed to be meditating. The native woman was in her kitchen, safely tucked behind breakable walls and glass. Whatever was happening it didn't seem pleasurable for any involved and for what felt like the millionth-time Emily was glad to be neither a wolf nor in Bella's rather interesting shoes.

* * *

 _The air was thick with tension as the Pack tried to gain their bearings. It didn't take long for anyone to realize that they were_ _ **not**_ _in the forest behind Sam's house anymore. Where they were, however, was a complete mystery and set them on even sharper edges than before._

" _What the fuck was that?" Jared's voice was pain-laced as he picked himself up off the black ground. He looked around to realize that the ground wasn't the only thing that was black- it looked like even the_ _ **air**_ _was black in this place. There was an eerie light through the surroundings that seemed to come from nothing, the wolf shivered as he scanned for his Pack mates._

" _I don't know," Embry was the voice that responded- Jared found him almost instantly on his hands and knees. The younger man looked like he was trying to puke but couldn't. "But can we never do it again?"_

" _I'm all for that!" Quil rolled himself to his feet, his body looked transparent at first but he quickly gained a sense of solid flesh. "Just because I accepted being a wolf no problem does_ _ **not**_ _mean I'm ready for more magical surprises."_

" _Funny, kid." Jared rolled his eyes as he continued to scan the area. Where was the rest of the Pack, or had it just been them affected by… by_ _ **whatever**_ _Bella had done._

" _Can I just say that I am so_ _ **done**_ _for the day?" Leah marched into the dimly lit area where the boys were standing, she was dragging a half-conscious Seth with her. He, too, looked worse for wear but was gaining a solid form as they talked._

" _I'm with you, Sister." Jared nodded as he counted. There were still three missing- Paul, Sam, and Jake. Where were they?_

" _I did not do this." Came Paul's voice from what felt like everywhere. "This is not my fault; I don't even know what or where this place is. No blaming me this time, damn it!"_

" _Oh, I'm blaming you Lahote." Leah's voice was a mixture of serious and joking. "Especially since it was_ _ **your**_ _girl that brought us here."_

" _Not funny, Leah." Paul growled playfully with a snap. "Speaking of Bella, where_ _ **is**_ _she?"_

" _No idea." Jared shook his head and turned in a circle. There was a brighter light coming from somewhere that didn't seem_ _ **too**_ _far off, but in this blackness that light could be miles away in reality. "Go that way, brighter light might either mean a way out or we'll walk in one big ass circle."_

" _Such confidence, Jared." Embry replied sarcastically as the group began to walk towards the light Jared had mentioned. Seth was groaning a little as he came to- whatever happened had obviously not agreed with him too much._

 _The wolves walked for what felt like ages before the bright light began to get bigger and more defined. It looked almost like a dome made of light, and from the shadows on the outside the Pack would have to say there was something standing on the outside of it. As they came closer the sight shocked all of them into stopping dead in their tracks._

 _There, on the outside of the bright dome, stood wolves. And not just any wolves, it was_ _ **their**_ _wolves. As their human counterparts to the animals came within the lights touch they turned to look at them, the air between animal and man charged with what felt like electricity and fire all at once._

" _God damn," Paul whispered as the pieces began to click in his mind. He knew that this place, this blackness, had felt familiar but now he had finally managed to puzzle out just_ _ **why**_ _it felt like he'd been here before. "Guys, trust me on this but we need to stick as close to this dome as possible. We also need to find Bella_ _ **quickly**_ _."_

" _Why?" Jared replied slowly, his eyes never leaving those of his wolf. It was an odd experience, seeing the being he shared his body with in such real terms._

" _Because she pulled us into an in between."_

" _Wait, like a Spirit in between?" Jared's head snapped around so quickly that it hurt. "Is that even possible?"_

" _With everything else going on around her you question_ _ **that**_ _of all things?" Quil laughed in a joking manner. "Not the Pack imprint, the attack by that douche of a leech, the enthrallment crap… you literally question_ _ **this**_ _."_

" _Well_ _ **this**_ _is going a little far for even my tolerance, pup." Jared growled a little with eyes still on Paul. "You seem to know where we are, so what do we do?"_

" _Well I think we need to make it to the dome first." Paul's voice was a shaking attempt at calm._

" _Fine." Jared nodded._

 _The humans began walking forward again, Leah and Seth a little unsteady in their steps, towards the dome and their animal counterparts. The wolves in front of them neither moved nor made noise, they were stoic in their guard. Jared couldn't help but count them and he came up with the right number- there was ten wolves sitting in front of the dome of light. The thing that tore at his gut, though, was that two of them were_ _ **not**_ _Pack members. Jared didn't know who the two smaller wolves were on the edges of the main group._

 _Possible future Pack members?_

 _As the wolves, human and animals, came together to stand right outside the dome the scene_ _ **inside**_ _it became clear to their eyes. Inside the dome stood Bella in between both of Sam's bodies as well as Jake's on the other side. She was talking to them- but the words weren't discernable to their ears._

" _Hey Jared," Paul began as he held his hand out to the dome- its rippling light looking like a liquid hanging in the air. "Think we can get in?"_

" _Only one way to find out." Jared replied as he held up his own hand, slowly the rest of the Pack copied the two older wolves and all were hands up mere inches away from the twisting surface of the dome. "Here goes."_

* * *

" _What the_ _ **fuck**_ _?!" Sam yelled as he struggled to his feet in the almost bright darkness that surrounded him. His head was spinning and felt like someone had smacked_ _it repeatedly with a sledge hammer. A cold nose on the back of his neck snapped the man to complete attention as he whipped around in an almost fearful readiness. "The hell?!"_

 _Sam turned around to find himself looking into familiar eyes set in a familiar black furred face. The wolf in front of him was large, as big as a horse and lean in its coiled musculature. It took the Alpha all of three seconds to realize that he was looking at_ _ **himself**_ _._

" _No idea, man." Came a voice from behind him. The voice was the same one that he had just been screaming at as they circled each other, and the animosity between the two had not gone away in the change of scenery. It didn't take long for Sam to stand and face his opponent._

" _You son of a bitch!" He growled angrily._

" _Leave my mother out of it, Uley. She was a good woman, believe it or not." Jake's reply was sarcastic and leisurely. Obviously the younger of the two men didn't care much for continuing their fight at the present moment- not that Sam cared one bit_ _ **what**_ _Jake wanted. "How about we fight somewhere we can actually fight, okay? Let's focus on getting out of here first."_

" _You're not 'getting out of here' until I know what the hell you two were fighting about and you_ _ **fix**_ _it." Bella's voice was strong and defiant as she stepped in between the two of them, her hands were on her hips and she looked the image of a woman on a mission. Jake and Sam looked from her to each other with wide eyes and slack jaws. She rolled her own eyes and sighed before talking again. "I'm not kidding guys. Talk this shit out or have fun dealing with each other for a while. I will leave the two of you here."_

" _Where_ _ **is**_ _here?" Jake asked sharply, his eyes scanning the surrounding area. It was empty, and seemed to be covered by a glowing dome of sorts. It was very sci-fi and would have been completely cool under different circumstances._

" _Here is an in between that I share with the Pack." Bella replied plainly. "It is where our Spirits are connected."_

" _That's both awesome and trippy." Jake laughed and then looked at Sam with a sigh after a moment. "So how do we get out of here exactly?"_

" _Why were you two fighting?"_

" _This asshole imprinted on Leah!" Sam growled with a snap, Bella looked sharply at the Alpha. "He imprinted on **my** Leah and he doesn't even know it, keeps telling me he didn't! I'm not stupid, Jacob Black! I know you imprinted on her!"_

" _And that is wrong because?" Bella's voice was even as she spoke. "I realize that you two have a history but you have_ _ **Emily**_ _, you are imprinted to your match and mate. Why is it such a bad thing that Leah is Jake's?"_

" _Because without this whole wolf thing he wouldn't even have had a chance with her! We would still be together, married by now and happy." Sam snapped, his features not calming though his body relaxed a little. "Leah didn't need to be drug into this situation and more than she already was."_

" _Sam," Bella began as she looked only at Sam for the moment. "I can't say that I understand your exact situation but I can say, without a doubt, that you and Emily are good for each other. I know that you love Leah, that you may_ _ **always**_ _love Leah in a way- but you have to let Leah go. She may never fully forgive you, though now that she's connected to the Pack through Jake she can at least know the truth. She is angry, hurting... She's suffered for the imprint in ways you don't understand- and now she has a chance to try to start again if she wants to take it. Why deny her that?"_

" _Because…" Sam stuttered out, unsure of his words. He was beginning to feel like a complete ass for attacking Jake in his anger- and was also wondering what Emily must be thinking about the whole thing. Did she think that he didn't love her anymore now that Leah was a wolf? There were long moments of silence before he stuttered again. "Because… Because I…"_

" _Sam," Bella interrupted for a moment. "Let Leah go. You can love her without holding on."_

" _Besides, man," Jake added in to the conversation carefully. "Even if we **are** imprinted, which we're **not**... You don't even know if she __**wants**_ _me like that. Imprints are what the wolves_ _ **need**_ _, so it doesn't have to be a sexual or romantic thing… remember?"_

 _Sam growled at himself, his anger receding as he thought more about it. Why did he not want Leah to move on? He had, almost immediately too. He and Emily were living together, happy and moving towards marriage and hopefully a family in their future. It felt like an eternity as he pondered a question that had been haunting him for a while now._

 _Why was he holding on to Leah so hard?_

 _The tension in the air could be cut with a knife; even a pin dropping would have sounded like thunder in their silence. Finally, Sam sighed as he almost sunk to his knees._

" _You're right, but I can't sit here and say this will be easy. I don't like this, and I'm not going to like it any more if Leah and Jake get together." Sam's voice was tight and clipped. "But I can at least try to let Leah move on."_

" _That's all I can ask, Sam." Bella replied with a smile, she began to speak again she was shocked by a large group of people entering the dome from the far side behind Sam. It was the rest of the Pack and their counterpart wolves. Leah and Seth looked worse than the rest, almost like they were fading. Bella's eyes widened as she took in the two- she didn't know that the new wolf had actually been_ _ **wolves**_ _and that one of them was Leah. But it she had to be a wolf, otherwise Emily would be among them- and she wasn't._

" _Oh shit." Bella whispered as she looked at the fact that in her attempt to bring only Jake and Sam into the in between she had managed to pull_ _ **everyone**_ _. "Well, this is weird."_

" _Very." Jake replied to thin air. He still looked bored of the situation, his face showing discomfort but Bella couldn't tell if it was from not being in his body or the possibility he may have imprinted on his Alpha's ex-girl. "Now- can we go home please? It's weird seeing myself from the outside."_

" _Not to mention, this is making me sick as a dog… and.. and that's not meant to be funny." Seth's voice was barely a groan as he dropped, his body was already starting to become see-through._

 _Closing her eyes in a panic, Bella quickly released the energy it had taken to bring the wolves to the in between. The release of such energy caused a snap back as everyone was pulled back through the barriers between the physical world and the Spirit's domain, violently so. Their wolves howled a song of goodbye, the noise resonating within them as their spirits broke through the veils of darkness._

* * *

 _A/N: Yes, my dear readers, this was a LONG chapter (around 6k in words once written- minus my disclaimer!). I do want to apologize and hope I didn't bore any of you but I also couldn't think of a good way to split this chapter into pieces. It wouldn't work well, made it almost seem chopped and off. Anyway, the next chapter **will** have a **SMUT** sequence in it- but it won't be imperative to the plot of the story so I will put warnings in (for those who don't like such things, I know there are those of you who would prefer it without) before and a 'Clear to proceed' after. _

_Before any of you comment or message me I would like to address something; **yes** , I know I am going deeper into the idea of the Spirits and their magics, the Volturi and the legendary powers of mytho-typical vampirism, as well as more to come- and I would like to let people know that I have very carefully studied multiple books and sources for **all** the material I am pulling and morphing (perverting, as one private comment called it. But apparently in a good way?) and mean no disrespect to any real or mythical traditions or legends in this work._

 _Thank you all, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter!_


	45. Renewing the Bond

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

The wolves were all groaning as they came to- their bodies scattered across Sam's porch and yard. Emily was standing stock still in the kitchen of the house; she had been pacing back and forth after making herself tea, that she hadn't touched, but stopped moving when she heard the movement from outside. Her eyes were scanning her Pack as she did a mental inventory of everyone as they seemed to come groggily back to consciousness.

It was obvious to the native woman that the two who were being hit hardest by _whatever_ Bella had done to them was Leah and Seth- the youngest male of the pack instantly crawling a few feet and emptying the contents of his stomach onto the ground near him. Leah looked like she wanted to do the same as her brother but managed to keep composure.

Her pack was alright, though Bella and Paul were the last to come to. She nearly ran to Sam when her fiancé rose from the dirt but held herself back, admittedly barely. Emily would get her chance to check on Sam in private, away from the eyes of those who may not need to see the two of them together in such a way.

Deciding to busy herself with drinks and food for the Pack she turned away from the window. Her curiosity could have had her plastered to that window until they came inside the cabin- but she also trusted Sam to let her know what Bella had done, whether it was a good thing or bad.

"Can we _not_ do that again any time soon?" Seth groaned as he lay on the porch with his head pressed to the cool wood of the flooring. Leah moved to gently rub his back as she looked her brother over, her natural mothering instincts coming out as she made sure it was just the 'trip' that was affecting him.

"I kind of have to agree," Jared was on his back looking up at the sky. "Not that the whole 'soul leaving body' thing wasn't cool and all, but I think I prefer solid ground to that any day."

"I wasn't trying to bring _all_ of you- just the two idiots who were trying to tear each other apart." Bella grumbled as she took a census of her own body, there wasn't anything other than a little fatigue but she expected that. She _had_ tried to do something she wasn't even sure she could do in the first place. And overdid it to boot.

"I resemble that remark," Jake was laughing as he shook his head attempting to clear it. "Same time, I agree. If we decide to do that again can we actually know _what_ we're doing?"

The Pack laughed at Jake's little joke, Seth being the last to get the word play. Sam looked from his Pack to his relatively new Beta. Jake _could_ have attempted to take Alpha from him- but he hadn't. And what had the Keeper called them? The obligated and the bloodline? Sam didn't have to think too long to know which one he was, but that also meant that Jake would be able, and have the right, to claim the Alpha of the Pack at any time.

Sam glanced at his fiancé in the window, she had been standing there and staring for a few moments before she went to get what smelled like food and drinks around. Was losing Alpha, someday, that bad?

Maybe not.

"Sorry, Jake," Sam held his hand outward to the younger man. "I acted out of line when I attacked you."

"No problem, Brother." Jake gave a wide grin as he accepted Sam's hand with a shake. "I may have said some shit that didn't need to be said, so we're even."

"Look at that," Bella seemed to be talking to nothing in a sarcastic voice. "they're playing nice. What good puppies."

With that, and before anything else could be said or done, Bella hopped off the ground and walked to the porch. She gently walked up to Leah and Seth, the siblings were lost in their own little world as Seth was still trying to collect himself. She knelt in front of the young man, still seeing the innocent kid in the lanky youth in front of her.

Seth was breathing shakily as he tilted his head up to meet Bella's eyes. The air seemed to nearly _glow_ as she looked at him and him at her, Leah's breath caught in her throat as she watched. Her mind swimming as she thought about it, _this_ was imprinting. It made the woman think about what her imprint, if she got one beyond Bella, would be like.

"Wow." Seth reached up, his hands sturdy and no longer shaking, and he gently ran his fingers through the front of Bella's hair. Paul growled lowly in the background, having not said anything yet, but Bella waved her hand to hush him for the moment. "Why do you look like an angel?"

Bella laughed and shook her head. "Because you're a goofball, but still- that was cute."

Leah was staring directly at her friend's head hoping that Bella would turn to her, she wanted to experience whatever her brother had just went through. Seth felt more powerful suddenly, as if he was radiating it, though it was a minor change compared to what Leah could feel coming from the rest of her Pack where Bella was concerned.

"You okay, Leah?" Bella asked while looking up to meet the native girl's eyes. Glowing didn't seem to happen this time, but the female wolf could _definitely_ feel a rush of power that had not been there even before.

And she was pretty damn powerful as a wolf, in all reality. Leah's breathing seemed to stop the moment Bella had looked at her as her world seemed to invariably shift the slightest bit. Bella wasn't necessarily the _center_ of Leah's being- she was close. Not a lover or anything like that; more like an extension of her own being. An addition to the wolf that was already in residence.

Leah just hoped that she wouldn't end up being able to turn into Bella too, that would be weird as fuck.

"If I didn't know _for sure_ that I'm not a lesbian I would be questioning that so hard right now." Leah whispered as Bella leaned forward to hug her with a laugh. The guys all laughed as well, Leah flipped them off behind Bella's back with a growl.

"Well…" Bella trailed off as she stood, a knowing smile widening on her lips as she let silence overtake the moment. "I don't think Paul would mind if you decided to be a lesbian for a minute or two."

Before anyone could react, Bella ran inside and slid the door shut on them again. She didn't lock it- since that would just have been silly and not have helped one damn bit against the strength of a werewolf, but she did hide in the kitchen on the _opposite_ side of Emily.

"Dude…" Quil started, breaking the shocked silence. "Is it sad that the idea of Leah and Bella is actually kinda hot?"

"Quil!" Embry yelled as he covered his ears and ducked into a bit of a circle. "Believe it or not there are those of us here who think of them as _sisters!"_

"Still hot…" Quil muttered again before Leah walked up and not too lightly clocked him in the jaw. The younger male wolf didn't do much more than snap his head back from the impact- though he did at least have the decency to look like he was in a nice amount of pain.

"Not a lesbian, and certainly _not_ for you to fantasize about." Leah growled before walking through the rest of the Pack and picking her brother up from the ground. They walked inside, Leah throwing another scorching glance over her shoulder at Quil before she did so.

"Well…" Jared's voice changed in inflection as he stood from the ground, dusting the dirt from his back he continued. "What a refreshing change of pace."

"No kidding." Quil was rubbing his jaw. Embry came to him and clapped him around the shoulders with a smile. "What? That really _did_ hurt…"

Embry and Quil walked towards the house as well, stopping long enough to grab Jake as they did so. The Beta looked to his Alpha to see if he was still needed outside, it was obvious Paul had something to say that he was waiting for, and Sam waved him on silently but not angrily.

"Go on, we'll be in momentarily." Jake nodded to Sam with a blank face. He reached up to grab Embry's arm, and his shorts, before walking inside.

Sam looked up at Jared and Paul, the three original wolves sat in silence for a moment before Paul slid his shorts down- the nakedness was something completely normal to them at this point. Jared began to strip as well, Sam already being naked just decided to phase immediately.

 **Sam:** _What did the Keeper say, Paul?_

 **Paul:** _I must renew the bond, the mark, and I have to do it exactly like last time. The only difference, but she mentioned this before, is that this time… This time_ _ **Bella**_ _has to accept_ _ **me**_ _too._

 **Jared:** _Are you afraid she won't?_

 **Paul:** _No, I know she will. I'm just wondering how to_ _ **do**_ _this. I don't know how she's going to react if she's conscious for this, and the Keeper mentioned that it can be 'pleasurable.' I don't want to embarrass her in front of everyone._

 **Sam:** _I promise not to laugh if she gets aroused. Hell, Emily was nearly_ _ **dripping**_ _with want when she found out that you had marked Bella, especially after she saw the mark itself._

 **Jared:** _Not a mental image I needed. Thanks._ Jared groaned in his mind, a keening whine coming out his lupine mouth. He looked back to the house, their Pack was trying to subtly look out the sliding door and window- they were failing spectacularly. Bella, however, was calmly sitting at the table nursing a cup of what was most likely tea.

 **Paul:** _The only other thing she said was that I_ _ **could**_ _renew the entire mark, our blood included, and it would strengthen the bond to new depths._

 **Sam:** _I think that may be the reason why Seth and Leah had issues with going to that dark place Bella took us…_

 **Paul:** _It was an in between. Our wolves go there often, apparently. The Keeper showed it to me once before, I can tell you it was much more pleasant this time._

 **Sam:** _That is something new… We need to look into this more, and without the council interfering into our research._

 **Jared:** _We need to go to the Keeper. She only answers one question at a time, sure, but if we_ _ **all**_ _go then we can get three answers in a single go._

 **Sam:** _Good idea. After tonight we will get together- we need a schedule and written down questions. I don't want to waste any chances when it comes to all of this._

 **Paul:** _Honestly, I want to get this marking done with. Whether or not she has a 'pleasurable' reaction in front of everyone… I want to complete the mating mark, and for that I need some serious_ _ **privacy**_ _._

 **Jared:** _Again, not a mental image I needed. You two are amazing at oversharing tonight._

 **Sam:** _I have seen enough women in your mind to know that you aren't an innocent, don't even go there with me tonight._ Sam looked at Paul and regarded his Pack Brother. Though he didn't like the idea of Bella going through pain, even the pain of a loss of virginity- and even though Paul _was_ a Brother… Sam weighed his mind a little to see if he would be able to stomach the idea of what Paul was planning. _No forcing her, if she isn't one hundred percent with you- do not go through with it. I will tear you to pieces._

 **Jared:** _That I can agree too, just saying._

 **Paul:** _She'll be one hundred percent, I promise._

With that the wolves all shifted back into their human forms and collected themselves. Entering the house Sam called everyone to the table, he sat at the head with his back to the rest of his house, Paul took a place next to Bella, and Jared sat with his back to the door. Emily took her usual place in the kitchen, away from the politics and procedures of Pack business.

Not that she wasn't welcome- she honestly preferred it this way.

Sam began in the simplest of ways, at the literal beginning of what he had to tell the two newest members of the Pack. This would become tradition, he realized, as more wolves were added to their number. If there were any more, which he halfway hoped there weren't going to be.

"In September of last year, I received a call from Billy Black." Sam started calmly, looking directly at Leah and Seth. "It was about Charlie Swan- his daughter was missing and there had been no sign of her for hours. Billy had promised Charlie help, so he called us…"

The story continued for nearly an hour, the rest of the Pack- even Emily- gave information in pieces and parts when they could. Bella remained silent, hearing a lot of this for what felt like the first time. She knew what the wolves had done for her, they had told her this story before, but now that she had spent time with the Keeper… it was all different.

The Pack, _her_ Pack- they had gone through so much with her… Because of her. And now they would have to go through even more, as Sam began to bring their tale to a close.

"The Keeper has told Paul that he must renew the mark on Bella with each new member to the Pack- with their blood to seal the bond to her." Sam's voice was grave and almost used up as he spoke. The story, though something _all_ Pack members would need to hear, was a hard one to tell.

"So, what? We have to bleed on Bella? That's some weird shit…" Seth's innocent naivety was a welcome change to the usual somber tones of the rest of his Pack- though at the current moment it merely made his Brothers and Sister smack their faces with their hands. "What? It is!"

"What Sam is saying, Seth, is that Paul has to bite Bella again- the marking- and then introduce our blood to her through that mark. We don't have to do anything except bleed." Leah was stifling a laugh as she spoke, her eyes still on Bella. "Except, from the sounds of it there is a big problem here. The Keeper told Paul that he had to _choose_ Bella, fully and completely right? That this would cement them together and no one else would work for the other. Right?"

"That's right, Leah." Jared nodded, neither Paul nor Bella had attempted to speak. Paul because he was worried about what Leah was hinting at, Bella because she honestly didn't know what was going on. Lack of memories tended to do that to her.

"Well, there's nothing in there about Bella _choosing_ Paul. Doesn't she have to for this whole thing to work?" Leah's eyebrow cocked as she looked between her friend and the hotheaded lethal killing machine that was apparently Bella's wolf.

"She has to, this time." Sam was nodding as he spoke. "Bella was unconscious at the last marking, so it was more _Paul_ who had to choose. This time, however, with her being awake and coherent they will both have to choose _each other_ for this to work- just as they will have to if any more wolves join our number."

"That sounds really… intimate. Do we have to be around for this?" Seth shuddered, his mind obviously going to a thought about Bella and Paul having sex.

"Mating isn't required for this type of marking, Seth." Paul quickly cut into the conversation before Embry, Jake, or Quil could talk and make the situation even _worse_. As it was, Bella had turned a bright red and her heart was racing. He reached for her hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze before continuing. "Think of it this way; you know how some married couples have their vows renewed? A sort of solidifying of their marriage and shit… Well, _this_ is kind of our vow renewal. The mark is a vow in a way. And _yes_ the words spoken between us are intimate but the moment- the marking itself- is meant to be witnessed by the Pack. It is a bond, a gift, to all of us."

"Centered around Bella…" Jake rolled his eyes. He was still just a little, only a _little_ , sensitive to the fact that Bella had been gifted not only to the Pack but to _Paul_ specifically. He was still getting used to seeing her as a sister even after the time he had spent with the idea. "Why am I not surprised she managed to attract this kind of trouble?"

"Thanks, Jake." Bella's reply was sarcastic and biting. "As if I _wanted_ to be a danger magnet!"

Bella moved to get up only to be stopped by Paul. She whipped her head around at the native man and narrowed her anger-darkened eyes at him. Paul matched her look for look before pulling his love closer to him, he brought her face close- Bella's heart rate jumped again, and her body responded in the usual arousal he caused. He didn't kiss her, however, instead he brought his mouth close to her ear.

"Relax, little Swan." Bella relaxed and coiled at the same time, a fire heating up between her legs and her lower abdomen. "Why don't you go outside, Emily can go with you. We'll do our part in here and then come outside. We can do this underneath the moon- wouldn't that help?"

Bella nodded, her mouth dry as she swallowed repeatedly to be able to say anything. "I think it might."

"Good girl," Paul smiled against the side of Bella's neck. She felt the change in his mouth and her knees nearly buckled, he gripped her tightly but not uncomfortably. "Go outside, little Swan, I promise I won't be long."

Paul placed a kiss below Bella's ear, her shuddering breath catching tight in her throat. He would have smirked but the eyes of his Pack mates, and their expressions, brought him back to the moment. This wasn't the place for that, but he needed Bella to _relax_ for this- or it would hurt.

Bella stood, though slightly wobbly, and moved towards the door. Emily spared a single look at Sam before he motioned for her to follow Bella out. Sam knew that Emily was fine with blood but he wasn't sure how she would handle the sight of the Pack being ceremoniously cut open in her kitchen.

Jake retrieved the bowl and knife from where he had stashed it, bringing it to Sam. The Alpha looked at Paul, his soldier, his fighter, and gave a questioning glance. Paul merely shook his head in response. This time it was Sam who would lead this- as was his duty as Alpha. This was _his_ Pack and just like a ship captain sometimes the duty of marrying its members fell to his shoulders.

Sam stood, the rest of the Pack following suit. Leah walked forward to her Alpha and held her wrist out above the bowl, she waited patiently. Something in Leah told her that this wouldn't be a simple slash and run.

"Do you willingly give your blood, this connection to the power within, to solidify and create a permanent bond with your imprint, Bella Swan?" Sam's voice was clipped- he was obviously not looking forward to having to cut Leah.

"I do." Leah's voice was strong, she didn't flinch as Sam brought the razor sharp knife across her skin. After a few moments of blood, she gripped the wound to stop it and walked to the side.

"It is done."

Seth stepped up next, his face blank as he tried to show no fear at the twisting confusion that his life had become in the span of a day.

"Do you willingly give your blood, this connection to the power within, to solidify and create a permanent bond with your imprint, Bella Swan?" Sam was searching the young wolf's eyes as he spoke. The words, the acceptance, this entire moment had to be done with complete conviction- there was no room for doubt.

"Yes, I do." Seth replied after a moment's hesitation. Sam searched for another moment longer but seemed to fight what he was looking for in the young man's eyes. He sliced the knife along the inner part of Seth's wrist, the younger man wincing just a little at the action.

Seth moved away, his hand putting pressure on a wound he could literally _feel_ closing beneath his fingers. He blanched a little but settled down as he stood next to Leah.

Quil stepped up and answered Sam's question- he had not been around for the original marking, though Jared noticed that he hadn't had the same reaction as Seth and Leah to the otherworldly transportation… had time around Bella done that? He was cut and bled just like the two before him, stepping back after a moment. Jared was next, his strides forward confident and unrelenting. He placed his arm above the bowl and looked into his Alpha's eyes calmly.

"Do you willingly give your blood, this connection to the power within, to solidify and renew a permanent bond with your imprint, Bella Swan?" Sam changed his wording this time, Leah was quick to catch it. Not that she was surprised, but the idea that this had already happened once was still new to her.

"I couldn't be more willing." Jared replied calmly, Sam drew the knife along his tanned skin.

This would continue until all of the wolves, Paul asking and cutting Sam (a tradition neither of them knew existed yet they followed it anyway). The bowl was nearly full of blood before the Pack made their way to the door and outside. Sam carried the bowl this time, taking on his role as Alpha completely. He wasn't sure what he was doing but his instincts seemed to guide him and he wasn't going to ignore them.

Bella was sitting on the ground under the moon, she was in the churned area of dirt where Sam and Jake had fought not too long ago. She was smoothing out the marred and broken earth into a smooth surface while Emily carefully braided her hair. Sam didn't know why, but the image of Bella in such braids seemed so _right._ It was a hairstyle many native women wore on special occasions, and perhaps Emily had thought this to be special enough.

Paul could not take his eyes off his mate in the light of the moon, though she was breathtaking to him anywhere. The braids Emily was carefully setting looked made Bella look so complete in the darkness. The native woman had carefully parted Bella's hair perfectly down the middle and then braided along the upper line of her forehead, following the braid down past the back of her ears. There was a spattering of red/orange in the soft brown hair, and it took Paul only a second to realize that Emily had woven in some Paintbrush into the braids.

Bella was a sight to behold, even from behind. Though her turning to look at Paul, a gaze she had sensed from the tingling down her spine, caused the wolf within him to nearly _howl_ in need. He couldn't help taking a step forward, Jared pulled him back gently. Paul was fighting the man's need to mark his mate properly, in front of his Pack, and the wolf's need to _take_. Primal, instinctive, lustful and beneath the surface.

Bella looked like heaven to the man, and almost a meal to the wolf. It was a conflicting set of emotions.

"Bella, will you stand please?" Sam asked to the girl, but Paul started talking before she could.

"No, she can kneel." Paul started, continuing through the growls of a few of his Pack mates. "It's not a submissive thing, fuck guys. I'll be kneeling too, but I think this would be a thing best down in the most _comfortable_ way."

"Good point." Sam nodded and walked with Paul to where Bella was. Emily stood back behind her own mate, Sam grasping her close for a moment attempting to stop her from leaving him. Paul knelt facing Bella, he took her hands before Sam started talking again. "Bella Swan, Paul Lahote; you are already married under Tribal law, connected to Pack, People, and Land. Tonight, beneath the moon, with your Pack as witnesses, the Spirits must ask you to renew your imprint bond and solidify the Pack's bond to Bella. And through this bond the Pack shall be strengthened and renewed. You must first choose each other, wholly and completely- beyond all doubt and through the worst transgressions."

Paul swallowed. He had already told Bella all the terrible things he had done, and Spirits was he hoping he didn't have to resay it all in front of the Pack. He was sure Leah would kill him if he did.

"Paul," Bella whispered, to get his attention with a soft smile.

He hadn't realized that Sam had stopped speaking and the Pack was looking at the couple in expectation. He took a deep breath and focused only on Bella's eyes for support and comfort. Paul had never been one for emotions, or emotional moments, but this was most definitely an exception to his usual rules.

"Bella Swan," Paul began in the softest voice he could manage- he didn't trust talking too much to do so loudly. "I know that I have made many mistakes- I denied you, weakened us both, and put my entire Pack in danger unknowingly through my actions. I fought an imprint that truly was, is, a gift from the Spirits. Through all of this, I have found my way back to you and ask you to accept me as I am- all I have to offer- and to accept our marriage and life together for now until our spirits join those of our ancestors."

Bella's eyes were shining; tears had formed on her lower lid line. She looked the image of ethereal innocent in beauty in the muted moonlight, and Paul held his breath in the silence after he spoke his words.

"Paul Lahote," Bella's voice was shaky, her breathing stuttered and heart pounding like drums. "I accept your love, your life, and your apologies. I cannot say that your choices did not hurt, because they hurt many innocents in their path of destruction. I accept you completely, as a man and as a wolf- and as in return that you accept me as I am; a simple girl with simple dreams. There is no wolf sharing my skin, I am not immortal, I will age and die- I am just me… Can you accept me as I am?"

"You are my world, Bella Swan. I would gladly die with you, if it means to be near you until the end of time itself." Quil made a small gagging noise in the background, Paul did his best to ignore it but noted it for later- he was going to beat that kid into the ground. "I accept you, and will never leave you- you are my life, my world, and I will protect you with my own life."

"I love you, Paul." Bella whispered, catching Paul off guard. Bella had never outright told him she loved him. He felt that she did, in the little things she did for him, the way she cared. Yet she had never said it.

The words, the meaning behind them, were too much for Paul to bear and he moved on instinct. Pulling Bella nearly into his laps, her legs barely straddling his own, he kissed her as gently as he could in his nearly starving state. Bella responded in kind, her body moving against his in a delicious way- but Paul managed to wrestle control of their embrace back even through his lustful haze. He moved his mouth across Bella's jaw, under her ear, and down her neck.

"I love you too, little Swan." Was the last words he muttered against her pale white skin, his lips brushing the mark as he spoke.

Her gasp gave him the push he needed to bite down, Bella's hands flying up to grasp at the short hair on the back of his head and his shoulder. She could feel the muscles moving in tension as he bit hard enough to break skin, though there was very little pain in the biting. Her mind was on fire, her body even hotter, and very little mattered to her in this moment other than the man in her arms.

Once Bella's mark was bleeding, Paul removed his mouth without licking the wound and reached for the bowl Sam was holding down to him. He noticed that his Pack, though watching, were trying to do so in a way that gave them a modicum of privacy in such a moment. Their eyes were averted to an extent; it was comforting to know that his Pack knew that this was something that really was between just them.

Paul poured the blood into his mouth, its coppery taste something that almost burned against his tongue. He'd had blood in his mouth, every wolf had hunted at least _once_ in their early days of the phase, and this was almost an invasion compared to that.

Silently, and quickly, Paul latched onto the bleeding mark once again. The feeling had not changed, the surge of power that seemed to fill his body as Bella's body took in the blood- it was an odd sensation to feel the liquid literally being sucked into her body like a siphon. The air grew thick with the same power that the wolves had felt before, at the Keeper's cabin, and seemed to almost writhe and glow with the intensity of the bond.

Bella groaned lightly, almost a breathy moan, as Paul licked the wound to help it heal. Her heart was racing, breath coming in short gasps, and she was flushed from head to toe. Paul pulled her even closer as he brought his mouth away from the mark. There was blood on his chin from spillage, something that happened regardless of his care, and he rest his cheek against Bella's chest, on her collarbone above where her heart would be.

"It is done." Sam's voice with thick, almost deeper in a way. Paul almost laughed- he could literally _smell_ Emily's arousal and was sure Sam was getting it worse. Their Alpha was getting laid tonight for sure, and Paul hoped it would be soon or Sam was going to explode from the sounds of it.

"Great." Leah's voice was sarcastic and slightly uncomfortable. "Can I go home now? I feel the sudden need to shower…"

"Home isn't safe for you and Seth- you're too young yet to be around other people…" Sam trailed off, trying to think about where they could go.

"They can go to my house, Sam." Paul said as he moved back to look Bella in her eyes. He had a plan, and it did _not_ involve going home tonight. "We won't be there anyway…"

"Why won't you… _oh…_ " Seth started only to be hushed by a rib shot by his sister.

"Thanks, Paul. Is it locked?"

"Nope. There's two showers, the one upstairs is nicer." Paul replied with a smile and a pop to the 'p.' Bella looked at Paul with confusion but he merely shook his head to her with a smile, she let it go and decided not to question what his plans were. She knew that Paul wouldn't hurt her, and even in not knowing she still felt safe.

That was enough for her.

The Pack began to mumble their own needs to leave, walking away in their own small groups. Jake with Embry and Quil, the siblings together; it left Jared with Paul and Sam- and he seemed to be waiting to know what to do.

"Run a patrol, please." Sam said quietly. "Let the others refresh themselves, then have Jake and Embry relieve you. We'll put Seth and Leah into the rotation tomorrow."

"Can do, Sam." Jared nodded and ran off into the woods. Sam turned to Bella and Paul, still kneeling at his feet.

"Emily," Paul started as sweetly as he could. "Is there any way I can borrow a few things?"

"Sure, Paul. Let me take you inside and we can get what you need." Emily led Paul, who set Bella safely down onto the ground, into the house to collect whatever the things he needed were. Bella's curiosity peaked even higher, but she said nothing.

Sam knelt down next to Bella, he needed to know something before he would let her go with Paul. Husband or not, imprint or not, Sam was _not_ going to just let Bella go.

"Are you alright, Bella?" Sam asked quietly, looking into her chocolate brown eyes. "Are you ready for what Paul is going to ask of you tonight?"

Bella looked at Sam with confusion, her head tilting. "What are you talking about?"

"Think about it, Bella. I know you're still _new_ to all of this but you can't really think that after the marking, after everything, Paul wasn't going to want sex too? His wolf is probably screaming for it, to seal the bond between mates." Sam was blunt about it "I know I was. My wolf went nuts in my brain, the want to claim Emily for my own eating at me- and we only waited a week, I think."

Bella's eyes had gone wide, her face paling even further than it was normally in the moonlight. She hadn't thought about _that_. Was she ready for sex with Paul? Was she ready for sex at _all?_ Her body screamed yes at her, a million times and again yes she was ready for sex… But was her mind? Bella thought about this for a few moments, going over everything in her mind.

Yes, she was ready.

"I'm not afraid, Sam. And I don't feel forced." Bella replied softly, a smile lighting her features. "I'm nervous, but not afraid."

"Alright, Bella." Sam rest his hand on her shoulder for a moment before standing and reaching for her hand. As Bella took it he gave her one last once over, making sure the marking had no negative effects. "Remember, you can always say no."

"I know, Sam." Bella's voice was soft as the door slid open to reveal Emily and a blank faced Paul. He walked forward towards Bella as Sam walked to Emily. As the men passed each other they stopped, Sam leaning to Paul's ear and whispering something low enough that neither woman could hear the words. From Paul's reaction, or lack of negative one, Bella assumed that it wasn't anything bad.

Paul reached for her hand, his other occupied by a basket filled with quite a lot. Bella couldn't tell in the darkened light what everything was but she certainly hoped a blanket or two was stuffed in the overly large carrier. She intertwined their fingers as they walked into the woods. She wasn't sure where they were going, but she knew that if Paul was there, she was okay.

"Can I ask where we are going?" Bella's voice was quiet because she didn't want to disturb the night- the spring bugs and animals scuffling was a calming thing.

"Our place, Bella." Paul whispered back as he went back to concentrating. The Spirits had given them a special place once, separated in a way like the Keeper's home, and he just knew in his gut that they could find themselves there once more.

* * *

Paul was proved right as he pushed through a small opening in a few trees to find that he and Bella had once again been transported to that calming place by the stream. He smiled widely as his mind began to work, pulling his long thought out plan together finally.

"Trust me, Bella?" Paul whispered in her ear, causing shivers down her spine in the most deliciously tingling way.

"Trust you." She breathed out, unable to make more of a noise than that.

Paul turned Bella to face him, setting the basket on the ground as he did so, he pulled her close and held her tight for a moment before whispering against her lips. A single word, and somehow the most arousing word Bella had ever heard in her life.

"Good."

* * *

 _A/N: Yes, I know I promised my first LEMON scene in this chapter but my beta and I decided against it- opting for a more "family friendly" version of this chapter. **However!** This does **not** mean the lemon isn't coming. What it means is that it gets its **own chapter!** That's right, lovely readers, my next chapter will be completely dedicated to the scene at hand (and maybe some Sam/Emily lovin, not sure yet). _

_We decided this since the lemon isn't a plot chapter (i.e this particular sex scene doesn't advance the plot at all, more of an extra) and I can easily pick up **after** in chapter 47 no problem. It does make the story a little longer, sure, but it also allows for people who **don't** want to read the LEMON to skip right over the next chapter and miss nothing to the plot!_

 _Thank you to everyone who has stuck with me this long, and I hope to see you through to the end!_


	46. Sealing the Imprint

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

 _ **A/N (part one): As I warned in my previous Author's Note (see Chapter 45 for it) this entire chapter is one big LEMON and it literally has NO PLOT ADVANCEMENT whatsoever! Which means, for those of you who have messaged me about such things, you CAN skip this chapter without missing out on anything in the plot. Thank you!**_

* * *

Paul pulled back suddenly, the loss of his body heat was a freezing shock to Bella's body and mind. She looked at him in almost pained confusion but he merely smirked and led her backwards with his hands on her hips. Just that touch was enough to set her entire being aflame in ways she couldn't describe, and it was such a pleasurable pain that she didn't want it to stop.

Her legs hit something cold, hard, and rough against her pants. Paul gently pressed her hips down and she followed the movements, sitting on what felt like a log in the darkness. He smiled at her, running his hands up her body as she sat- the fire spreading with each feather-light touch against her body. Bella was nearly drowning in the sensation and Paul had barely even touched her _skin_ yet! His fingers drifted across her collarbone and throat before he turned away from her.

"Stay, little Swan." Paul's voice was deeper than normal, gravelly and full of barely contained emotions. Bella couldn't tell if it was rage or lust; or perhaps a rather heady mix of the two. Either way, it made her shiver to her very core. Paul chuckled at her as he began to unpack the basket. "Patience, Bella. I can smell you from _here_ and I haven't even gotten to the beginning yet, love."

"Beginning?" Bella was nearly whining; her body was on fire and there was a need- an emptiness- between her legs that she couldn't place. She'd felt it before but never to this extent, not to a point wherein she felt as though she would die without a man's touch. She swallowed to gain more moisture in her mouth, her tongue was like dry sandpaper against her cheeks and teeth. "I-I'm surprised you haven't raced to the finish."

Paul looked up, his eyes alight even in the crisp moonlight. He smiled a wide and toothy grin, it was mischievous and spoke of things to come. Bella felt her body respond in kind- the gnawing need grew within her to the point of starvation. He was managing to unravel her very mind with nothing more than a _look_.

"Little Swan, even the best hunters know when to chase the prey… and when to let it come to them." He went back to unpacking, rolling a thick blanket along the ground to cushion them from the dewy grass and then busying himself with building a circle for a fire using larger stones along the ground. He dug the center of his circle out using a hand spade Emily let him borrow, though she had looked at him like a madman when he asked.

"And do prey really come when you wait?" Bella's voice cracked again as she watched the lines of Paul's body, the way his muscles moved in the light of the moon. He was an angel in the dark. Or a demon. Whatever he was, Bella _needed_ him and that need was growing with each passing moment.

"I don't know." Paul started to talk as he lit some kindling on fire, he was kneeling opposite Bella so he could face her. The fire grew between them in silence before he spoke again, the firelight doing _nothing_ to subdue the inherent possessive masculinity that Paul was. "You tell me, little Swan. You look like you're _aching_ to come to me- and you're the only prey I'm after."

Bella's eyes widened as ideas of being prey to Paul, what that entailed and what would happen when the wolf caught its meal, ran through her mind. Paul chuckled again as her heart raced, beating against her chest in such a way that he could hear it at a distance. She was on fire, burning in a way that only someone who has denied themselves pleasure can burn. Add to that the fact she was a _virgin_ , that he would be her one and only- and this was to be their first time… she burned even more from anticipation of something she didn't even know.

The game was set, the board in place. Now the Queen needed only to come and claim her King- and the check mate, or mating if he felt like making a pun, could happen.

"Little Swan?" Paul crooned at her, Bella had to shake her head to dispel the images that had taken over her mind. She looked up at him with doe eyes, the passionate burning escalating in their darkened depths. Had Paul not been in complete control the sight would have taken his breath away. As it was, he continued in his crooning half-whisper. "You don't have to be so far from the fire."

Bella surveyed the scene that lay before her. Paul had set up a thick blanket on the forest floor, the glowing fire a safe distance that still have heat and light, a few small pillows littered around the ground blanket, and she could distinctly see a few more smaller blankets laying on top. The basket was close, resting within it were a few bottles of what Bella would guess was water, and what looked like a Tupperware container of food- she couldn't be sure without being closer.

Paul had created the perfect setting for seduction, and he was managing that _amazingly_ thus far if her need for him was any judge.

A small breeze set Bella nearly running to the warmth of the fire and blankets, proximity to Paul be damned at the present. As it was, he stayed stock still next to the fire; he was crouched in very much an aggressive position, but it was nothing more than a sexual possession he was almost literally oozing.

"Y-y-you got your wish." Bella stuttered a little, whether it was from nerves or need she couldn't tell. "The prey came to you."

"Yes it did, didn't it?" Paul's eyes lit up as he chuckled. The noise sent fire through Bella's body again, she gave a breathy moan at just the _sound_ and its repercussions. "But will the little Swan run away when the wolf comes?"

"Not a chance." Bella smiled, her initial nerves beginning to settle as she found a comfortable position on the blankets. She was on her back, eyes to the sky. Her body was acutely aware of his but she at least wasn't looking at him anymore- and that helped a little to quench the fires in her body and mind.

The blankets moved a little as Paul prowled onto them. He had not shed himself of the hide pants that the Keeper had given him- for some reason they felt right for this moment in time. Bella forced herself not to look at Paul as he came closer, so much closer, and tried to keep her expression blank. The task became nearly impossible as Paul lay next to her, his body heating hers up to an unbearable degree. He was laying on his side, that much she knew, and he was looking at her.

In fact, Paul was literally studying Bella's face. He could sense that she was nervous, so he did not jump the gun and instantly act upon his desires. The wolf was becoming impatient but the man knew that _all_ good things came to those who waited- and patience was a price worth the reward of feeling Bella underneath him, around him. Reaching for her, he pulled her close against him and rolled the pair towards the fire. Paul nestled Bella's back to his chest, making sure not to hold her too tightly to his body. He covered them in a sheet that Emily had given him, the lightest bed covering she owned, and waited.

As Bella watched the fire and began to relax against Paul's body she noticed minute details about him in a very physical way. His arm was all lean muscles, tense and coiled but soft and pliable at the same time- a stark contrast to the hard muscles of his chest that coiled and recoiled with every breath he took. His fingers were feather light and rough to the touch from work as he trailed them in a gentle pattern on her pale stomach.

Unwittingly she arched into the touch, a soft sigh escaping her mouth as Paul's found her neck and showered it in barely there kisses. His lips were lighter than the touch of a butterfly yet hotter than the surface of the sun- it was like being revered by a god and yet haunted by a ghost in one- a confusing sensation for her but she reveled in it nonetheless.

Paul was being as gentle as he could, not forcing or rushing. His fingers slowly drifted up Bella's shirt against her skin, tracing patterns and leaving goosebumps in their wake. She arched against him again, her breathing hitching as he reached a point where the shirt had to just plain come _off_ or he was going to rip it off.

"Little Swan, please…" Paul began in a way that was nothing short of straight begging. "Remove this or I am going to rip it off."

Bella understood and sat up, shaky hands going to lift the shirt from her body. She deposited it on the other side of Paul. Before he could continue his earlier ministrations, Bella found the strength to pull away and stand. Her hands went to the fly of her jeans and she eased them down her legs, revealing all but the most private parts of her body to Paul- and he ate her with his eyes.

He stopped her when she went to pull the red panties, a match to the bra Paul noticed, down her legs. His hands locked like cuffs on her wrists as he made a disagreeing noise in the back of his throat.

"Don't, love." Paul had knelt to stop her, on his knees in front of Bella who stood. "Those are for me to remove, little Swan."

He leaned forward and placed a myriad of kisses, licks, and nips down Bella's midriff, her knees buckling into the touches. Chuckling, he caught her easily and eased her down into his lap. Once she was seated, straddling his knees and ass firmly pressed on his thighs, Paul began to kiss her neck, over the mark, as his hands deftly undid the bra clasps. Paul purposefully drug his fingers lightly across her skin as he pulled the bra off, his touch leaving more bumps along her arms.

Bella felt so many sensations at once that her mind could not keep up with all of them. Reminding herself to breath had become a thing, as Paul's kisses seemed to make her forget even such simple things. When his mouth had encountered the mark that he had renewed not even two hours before she nearly screamed in the ecstasy of it all, her body arching deliciously into his begging for more friction.

Now that Bella was bare from the waist up she felt herself being eased back onto the blankets, though Paul's touch did not disappear as she feared it would. He followed her down, his kisses trailing her body as he shifted to lay her flat on the ground. Bella's heart raced as his lips brushed the tops, sides, and even the undersides of her perky, if only handful sized, breasts. She arched into his kisses, begging him with her body to assuage the burning pain she couldn't describe.

"Patience, love." Paul said into her skin as he circled her right breast with his tongue. He was careful to avoid her nipple, watching as it hardened without his touch. "No need to rush the fun."

"This isn't fun!" Bella's voice had become a needy moan, her mind long gone from Paul's earlier teasing. She wasn't even sure she'd had her mind this whole time, let alone recently. "This is torture. Refined… practiced… torture."

"Torture, is it?" Paul's voice deepened to near growling as his wolf howled in domination, wanting to show Bella just how _torturous_ he could be. As it was, he drew his tongue languidly across her nipple- slow and steady. Bella let out a throaty moan, her hand coming to grip his hair- he caught it to still her. "If it's torture you want, Little Swan, then I am _more_ than happy to oblige you."

Before Bella could respond, he latched onto her nipple and began to suck gently at first, and then faster. He teased the peak with lips, teeth, and tongue all while giving her left breast similar attention with his hand. Gentle then rough, giving then demanding, slow and fast. Paul was unrelenting as he kissed and tasted, switching from her right nipple to her left as Bella wriggled and writhed beneath him- her moans turning to sobs of need, though she had yet to literally cry from it.

She was nearly tearing her hair out; Paul had removed her hands from him multiple times so she quit trying to touch him. He was tracing patterns across her chest with his tongue, licking her tight nipples then blowing what felt like icy and piercing breaths across them. She was dying, this was heaven and hell at once.

And still, this wasn't the end.

Bella felt something coiling within her, the need building as she blindly arched into him time and again. The heat between her legs, the growing wetness that she wanted friction against so badly, was beginning to become unbearable as he continued. Bella was losing her mind, the pleasure becoming more than she could handle as her world seemed to explode.

"Paul!" She drug his name out in a nearly screaming moan, her body arching into his as her body felt like it was exploding- the fire and pulsations coming from her core feeding the sensations as Paul slowed his kisses to a near halt.

"One down." He muttered against her skin as he rest his cheek against her breast above her heart. He was breathing hard, his erection straining against the pants he was wearing in a painful way. He knew better than to remove them, though. Paul needed to be fully in control and that control would break if he stopped his current mission.

"One?" Bella questioned in an airy whisper as Paul began to kiss his way down her body once more. She squeaked as he nipped at the upper part of her belly button. "Paul, what did you mean _one_?!"

"You'll see, little Swan… you'll see." Paul hooked his fingers in the side of her panties and began to take them down her legs. He kissed and licked down her left leg first, stopping at the places that caused her to arch or moan- he was worshipping her body like the goddess she was. His restrain was being tested, but this was worth it to him.

As Paul removed the panties and threw them with the rest of her clothes he took a moment to enjoy his mate, his wife, and her body as it was exposed to him. Bella's nerves returned under his eyes and she went to cover herself, a single growl from him stopped her. He shook his head at her as he looked into her chocolate eyes.

Paul began his trip back towards Bella's achingly delicious smelling center, her core was wet and calling to him but he stuck to his task of torturing her with anticipation and sensation before he got his fun out of it. She was already arching again, her moans a delicious addition to the crackling of the fire and the singing of the few night creatures awake under the moon.

Bella froze as Paul's mouth came in contact with the skin above her patch of curls, between her vagina and belly button. Paul felt her hesitation and pulled up enough to look into her pleading eyes.

"Paul?" Her question hung in the air and his name, he smiled in response to her.

"I'm not going to hurt you, little Swan." His voice was husky and rough with his own lustful need. "I'm merely tasting you, loving you…"

"Not there…" Bella blushed as her nerves returned full force, she averted her eyes from him. The submissive move coupled with her blushing nerves made Paul chuckle.

"Yes, there." He moved downward with his mouth, his lips drifting across her skin. "I want to know _all_ of you, love. Lay still for me, my prey, and let me taste you."

Bella's mind was a repeating wheel of simple thoughts as Paul moved against her. He couldn't, he wouldn't, oh _God!_ Her mind seemed to explode once again, though her body only coiled, as Paul ran his tongue down her already wet slit. He was gentle in his explorations, no use of teeth on such sensitive skin.

Paul kissed Bella's sex and parted her lips with teasing touches of his tongue. Her scent had been delicious but it was _nothing_ compared to the taste of her. She tasted almost of spiced honey, a rich and sweet taste that was underscored by natural a natural saltiness that had Paul ready to devour her like a man starving.

When his tongue touched the bundle of nerves at the uppermost top of her core, Bella arched and moaned his name again. She made his name into a song of angels as she moaned it, singing for all the world to hear praises for him. Maybe he was egotistical, but he'd take the ego boost if it meant pleasuring his mate. Bella was coiling again, her control slipping as his tongue worked on her clit.

He needed to prepare her properly so he pulled back just enough to rub two fingers in the wetness between Bella's legs. She jerked at the sensation but did not pull away, her eyes meeting his in the mixture of fire and moonlight.

"Please Paul," Bella begged him in a moan. "Please."

"What is it that you want, Little Swan?" Paul said as he licked her lower lips again, opening them gently before inserting a finger into her tight core. _Spirits_ was she tight, pulsing around just the invasion of his finger into her body. "You have to tell me what you want, love."

"I don't _know_ what I want!" Bella moaned as she bucked her hips against his tongue and hand. Paul chuckled against her, the vibrations causing the most infuriating sensations against her hot, wet, sex. "Paul, please!"

"You know," Paul lapped against her as he inserted another finger. She tensed a little at this new sensation, but did not pull away yet. He pulled himself up to rest on one arm, pumping his fingers in and out of her slick entrance as the heel of his hand came against her clit with each downward stroke. "You're not being very helpful."

"I _need_ you, Paul." Bella was sobbing her moans again, thrashing against the friction of his hand. She was like a madwoman, needy and nearly feral. "Damn it, Paul! _Please!_ "

"I can't deny you anything, little Swan." Paul replied as he removed his hand and fingers from Bella, she groaned in frustration at the loss of pressure. He smiled down at her sweating and heavily breathing form, his hands making quick work of the ties to the pants before slipping them off his hips.

Bella's breath caught in her throat as Paul pulled the hide leather pants over his hips and downward. Her eyes were instantly attracted to his fully hardened erection as it sprang forth from the confines of the pants. Bella had seen penises in her life, she had taken health class before- but this was something completely different. There was something inherently intimate about this, and her curiosity had her leaning up to come closer to Paul's erection.

She lifted a single pale hand to touch it, running her fingers down the silk soft skin. It was such a surprising contrast to the rock hard solidity of the thing that she gasped, and then did so again when Paul groaned in what she thought was pain.

"Sorry!" She blushed as she backed away from him, hoping she hadn't pained him too much.

"Don't be, Bella." Paul said as he pulled her to him. His wolf wanted to mount Bella, but this was one fight the wolf was _not_ going to win. Pulling Bella to straddle him he moved to allow his legs the room to be outstretched beneath him. "You didn't hurt me, I promise."

"But, the noise…" Bella gasped as her hot core came in a grinding contact with his hardened sex.

"It wasn't pain, Bella." Paul swirled his hips a little to cause more friction between them, he held himself up with one arm as he did so- he was piling the pillows and blankets behind his back. "Your touch, it was like an electrifying fire- one I am all too ready to beg for. I wasn't prepared for it, that's all love."

"Oh, _oh._ " Bella moaned out a response as Paul moved again. She looked at him in expectant need once he stopped moving. "What now, you said you weren't done…"

"I'm not, little Swan." Paul grasped Bella's hips gently and guided her upwards for a moment, she instinctively curled her knees beneath her without him having to tell her to do so. Bringing her back down, he guided her to rest against him again. He caught her eyes with his and spoke once more. "Are you sure about this, Bella? Because after this, our bond is sealed. There is _no_ going back at all- you will be only mine and belong only to me."

Bella thought for a moment before what Paul would call a 'sly grin' spread across her features. She began to experimentally move her hips, grinding her hot core against his hard erection. Paul shuddered and a deep groaning moan escaped his throat as she continued.

"If I am yours, Paul, then that means _you_ are mine." She continued to rotate her hips, her nerves disappearing as their bodies melded together, so close and yet achingly far apart. She leaned in to her mate, a new vigorous sense of need boiling within her. _She_ wanted to claim _him_ too. With her lips ghosting against his ear, she whispered. "I accept you, Paul Lahote. All of you- wolf and man. I accept our imprint, and our future together. I will carry our children and raise them, build my home with you. Now, take me and finish what you started."

Paul was slack jawed and nearly came right there with her words, her pure _power_ as she accepted the imprint. As she accepted _him_.

Giving in to her final request, Paul lifted Bella one more time with one hand- more guiding than supporting her in all reality. He positioned himself to line up with her hips, holding her in suspension as he sucked in enough air to speak.

"Look at me, Bella." Thankfully she didn't fight him and her eyes caught his immediately. Remembering that she was a virgin, Paul slowly dropped her onto his erection. As her eyes widened at being essentially impaled, he brought the two of them together in a deep kiss to swallow her moans as she sank further and further onto his dick.

Once she was fully seated against him, Bella found herself nearly _purring_ at the sensations. It was mildly painful but that was more of a discomfort than a deal breaker. She wasn't ready to move yet and he seemed to know that since he had not tried to move her, or himself, since she stopped lowering down. _God_ , did she feel so deliciously _full_ \- and at the same time not full _enough_. Testing herself, Bella gently rolled her hips against his- Paul's grasp on her hips tightened but not to where it was painful. It would bruise, however, though she didn't care at the current moment.

That movement, that tiny little movement, had caused such a great fire in her body that she was nearly crying out from the pleasure of it all. Her body shuddered and clenched against him as she tested out another movement- this time rising on her knees just a little before coming back down. Her exhalation was nothing more than a breathy moan at the feeling- the entirely _too_ full yet still _empty_ feeling his hardened length created within her.

"Paul," Bella moaned as she began to move again. In the back of her mind she realized something amazing- Paul was allowing _her_ control in this moment. This was _all_ her. His hands were on her hips as guides, he did not pressure or move her for his own pleasure.

 _He_ was offering himself to _her_ in this the most intimate of moments between them. Not necessarily giving up dominance of the situation- but control in the moment for sure.

"Spirits, Bella." Paul groaned as he leaned up to lavish her breasts and tight nipples with his lips and teeth. "You're so fucking, damn." His words failed him as Bella gained confidence in her movements- they were becoming deliberate and painfully innocent at the same time. "That's it, Bella… Just like that."

"God, yes, Paul!" Bella moaned out as she dropped herself onto his lap once again, this time faster than before. As she settled against him once more she began to feel a similar coiling sensation as before, her abdomen began to clench and twist as she moved. "Paul…"

Bella drug his name out in her crooning moan again, and this time it was just too much for his limited patience and restraint. Flipping them as gently as he knew how, which he hoped had been gentle enough to not hurt her, Paul moved until he was on top and resting between Bella's shapely legs. She instinctually wrapped them around him as he moved, her purring moans spurring him on.

"Bella, Isabella." Paul groaned into her ear as he licked and nipped at the flesh. His hips drove hard and moderately fast, her breathing hitched with every forward thrust. "My Swan, my mate, my love, my life; that's it, come up to me."

Bella blindly followed his instructions, her hips bucking upward against his in primal, feral, need. Her body was coiled tighter than a watch spring and his words did nothing more than spur her on to find that same explosion from earlier.

Paul was demanding in his thrusts, bringing himself to the brink of being outside of her body and then pushing back in with a force that _should_ have hurt yet was pleasurable and had Bella begging him for more with each breath. He was unrelenting as he took from her, and gave just as good as he got. His wolf howled in delight as Bella writhed panting and needy beneath him, their bodies joined in the most primal of ways.

Bella was floating, she was on fire. She was in Heaven and her own personal hell as Paul continued to bring his hips into hers, his hardness into her soft heat. She wasn't sure if she even _wanted_ this to end as he brought his mouth to hers for a searing kiss. Bella's mind began to fade again as Paul drove into her harder, somehow deeper, and his hand slid between their bodies.

"Come with me, love." Paul groaned to her as he put pressure against the coil of nerves at the peak of her sex. Bella screamed out as she arched into him, her body clenching tightly around his own in the moment- he smiled against her neck and moved to bite his mark for the second time that day. Paul felt his own release rush into Bella's sex as he steadily pumped against her, his teeth sinking into the bare edge of her throat once more.

Bella called out her own moans as Paul almost commanded her to join him in the throes of pleasure. Her mind blank and foggy as explosion after soul-ripping explosion rippled through her body in pleasurable waves. She barely noticed his teeth against her throat, the tearing of her flesh a second time as he bit down and groaned into her skin.

She had read romance novels when she was younger and _none_ of them had managed to properly describe the feeling of finding the utmost peak of pleasure with your partner, and then the thrilling sensation of their release as it spilled into your body.

"Paul!" Bella screamed out a final moan as Paul bit down one more time, this time licking the wound and then kissing his way up her throat and cheek. He claimed her lips dominantly, taking as much as she would give him in the moment- and currently she was more than willing to match him kiss for kiss.

"You, Bella Swan, will be the death of me." Paul said as he gently moved to the side, withdrawing from his mate in the gentlest of ways he could. Reaching for the basket, he grabbed out a thermal container and pulled a slightly damn, still warm, rag from the steaming water within.

Bella jumped at the feel of his hand and the cloth while he tried to clean the sweat from her skin and the small trickle of blood from between her thighs- he chuckled a little with a soft smile gracing his lips.

"Bella, after what we just shared you're going to be self-conscious?" His voice was soft and not chastising at all, more affectionate than anything.

"Having sex with someone is completely different than having them clean you _after_." Bella whispered, her eyes averting from his for a moment. "Besides, I just wasn't expecting it… Usually guys are only this sweet in fairy tales."

"I'm the big bad wolf," Paul said as he began to wash her once again, his hands gentle and loving. A stark contrast to his need from moments before. "Isn't that fairy tale enough?"

* * *

 _A/N (part two): So, what started out as a simple 2.5k word sex scene turned into this monstrosity of a 5k+ lovemaking that I really didn't mean to stretch out **that** far. I do apologize if it was unsatisfying to you, but this is how I imagined their first time in my 'playthrough' of the Twiverse (i.e this particular plot line I'm running with). I know that it wasn't exactly the "nitty gritty" kind of lemon that a lot of people like/write/have grown accustomed to- but I wrote this like I write everything else, and that makes me proud of it either way._

 _Thank you to everyone who has stuck with me thus far and I hope to see you all on my next update!_


	47. An Unwelcome Visit

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

Paul slowly woke up to the sounds of birds, breeze, and babbling water. Man and wolf felt whole, complete, and calm in the growing dawn light. A small mass on his arm made Paul turn his head and smile, Bella was curled next to him- her head on his bicep as if it were a pillow.

Not that he minded, Bella could use him as a pillow any time and he wouldn't gripe.

"Beautiful." Paul whispered to himself as he rolled to hold his mate with both arms. She smelled like him now, more so than before, and the intoxicating combination of her scent with his was something that he could drown in.

Content to lay there forever the pair drifted in and out of sleep as dawn's light drifted through the leaves of the trees. This moment was theirs, something no one could take from them, and Paul was bound and determined to make it a moment that neither would forget.

"So beautiful." Paul whispered into Bella's hair as he kissed the top of her head and pulled the sleeping girl closer.

* * *

"Jasper?" Rosalie asked her brother as he stood looking out the windows of the house. "It has been nearly a week since we sent Edward to Carlisle and Esme. They haven't come, nor have they called. Do you really think he delivered your message?"

"He delivered it, Rose." Jasper replied calmly, his eyes scanning the forest. He was tense, a sense of foreboding was growing in his stomach. That was the problem with empathy, however, since he wasn't sure if this foreboding was his own feelings or that of someone else.

"And if he didn't? What then? Without Alice we are blind, and without Edward we are… I don't know." Rose worried her bottom lip with her teeth. "I'm not used to being this uninformed."

"I know, Rose." Jasper turned to his sister, a feeling of calm assured strength filling his bones and radiating outwards. Rosalie smiled, a rare thing in recent days, and leaned against one of the support frames. "You have something on your mind besides Carlisle and Edward…"

"I do, but I don't know how to ask you about it." Rose was to the point. Emmett entered the room with his usual child-like grin, he took a seat on the couch in the middle of the room. He was silent, listening more than anything else, and neither of his siblings really paid him mind.

"What about?" Jasper had an inkling of what his sister was curious about, but he still thought it polite to ask. A gentleman would never assume.

"Bella Swan." Rose was succinct in her tone, her shoulders square. Not that Rosalie didn't trust Jasper, she did to the end and back- but with everything that had happened since she and Emmett had arrived… she was beginning to falter to be completely honest.

"What about Miss Bella?" Jasper's southern lilt was coming out again, though he had spent decades trying to hide it.

"Plenty about her, really." Rose sighed in exasperation. She wasn't sure where to start- there were just so many questions. "Is she even human? What gave her the power to push Edward away the other night? How did she even keep the rest of us out? I don't understand, Jazz, she's supposedly a _human_ , a normal human…"

Emmett stood and came beside his wife, offering his arms to hug and hold. Rose leaned deeply into her husband's arms, the emotions between the two centering Jasper as they always did. Rose and Emmett's relationship was decidedly one-sided sometimes, especially since Emmett had placed Rosalie on the pedestal of 'Angel' in years past- closer to when the man had been turned. But Rosalie did, for all she said she couldn't, love Emmett back. It wasn't as deep as the love Emmett had for her, it was love built from the vain dream of a child- and loving a child; but it was love nonetheless.

Jasper waited for Rose to sufficiently calm down before he talked. He didn't have all the answers, and in actuality he felt that he had _no_ answers. But he still had more than Rose did- which was what the stressed vampire was looking for.

"She is human. Her scent, her heart, her general energy- it is all human. Her emotions are human, untainted by the addition of anything supernatural beyond the bonds between her and her Pack." Jasper looked out the window again, turning away from his siblings. "The power to keep us out and the power to push Edward away, well, I've got one hell of a theory on that one."

"That theory being?" Emmett spoke for the first time, his tone curious and much lighter than that of Rosalie.

"It came from the more than just her mate." Jasper was thinking out loud now, thoroughly interested in the drops of rain that had begun to hit the glass. They were beautiful in their own way, so static and yet ever changing. If only vampires could be such. "Paul said that her imprint to him gave her the ability to tap into _his_ power, yes? Except that link I felt between them was merely the _strongest_ between the two of them- I could sense and taste it through all of the wolves and Bella. She is connected to the entire _Pack_."

"So you think they lied to us?" Rose nearly growled, moving to step away from Emmett but he refused to let her.

"No," Jasper shook his head and he gave a have grin. "They didn't _lie._ She does get her power from her mate, but I think- and remember darlin' that this is a theory- that Bella is connected to the Pack as a whole. And from that she can draw from _all_ of them."

"What makes you figure that?" Emmett's curious voice broke through again, the gentle giant had been rather silent the last few days. He seemed to be deep in thought as the time wore on for the unsleeping creatures.

"He didn't seem to be affected at all, Emmett." Jasper turned to look at his brother. "The male, Paul, he was as strong as ever after Bella used whatever she took. Even for a wolf, or a shifter, a vampire… Any of our kind would have showed the drain on our powers, so too would a wolf."

"So you think she took from all of them and they carried the weight of that drain together?"

"Perhaps," Jasper turned again to the window and cracked a sad smile. "However this conversation will have to wait- we have visitors." Jasper pointed to a car that was driving down the gravel drive. It was Carlisle's Mercedes, being driven at a pace that even Alice would have called reckless.

" _They came._ " Rose whispered, her voice taking on a tinge of relief as their 'parents' disembarked the vehicle once it was stopped fully.

"Yes," Jasper turned to the door. "They did."

It was less than a second later that Carlisle knocked on the door to the house. It was a weird feeling for the older vampire, he had never had to request permission to enter his _own_ house before; any of them actually. But Carlisle was not naïve and knew that in this Jasper held the cards, and if he and Esme were to leave this place, or stay with blessings, he would need his wayward son on his side.

Jasper tasted the emotions coming from the other side of the door. There was panic, fear, and an underlying sense of preservation that all creatures seemed to carry. None of the feelings that he sensed had intent behind them, however, so he opened the door with a pleasant smile on his face.

"Carlisle, you made it."

"Yes, we did." Carlisle's eyes tracked among the children in front of him. Emmett, Rosalie, Jasper- yet no Alice or Edward. The letter, it seemed, had been completely true up to this point. "May we come in?"

"It is still your house, Carlisle." Jasper moved to allow his 'parents' into the home. Esme gave a smile and a quick hug, her never-ending motherly love seemed to radiate from her in an almost visible light. She was fearful but not of her children- something else was causing her fear.

"We need to talk, Jasper." Carlisle had walked directly into the dining room, though it was more of a conference area than anything else. "I do not know how long I have until the wolves know of our return- and will request our judgement from there. We have news, and it concerns _all_ of us."

"What news?" Rosalie was quick to ask as she took a seat across from where Esme had sat, neither woman wishing to sit at the 'head' of the table. Carlisle even hesitated before taking a seat to the left of the 'head' position, Emmett sat on the right. Jasper took the open seat on the end, seeming to take no notice of the change in dynamics from his choice to sit there instead of another open chair.

"The Volturi Guard came to us in Denali yesterday." Esme nearly shouted in her fear. Rose hissed as Emmett's eyes widened. Only Jasper sat calmly, he had known the Volturi would be involved in one way or another- it had only been a matter of time. "We had gone to Carmen and Eleazar after Edward showed up with your… letter."

"And to what did the Cullen Coven owe the pleasure of a visit from the Volturi Guard?" Jasper's voice was tight, his words strained.

"It was about Bella and her knowledge of our kind."

* * *

 _The Volturi Guard had knocked as gently as they knew how on Eleazar and Carmen's front door. Which, in reality, meant that they had all but kicked it in. All vampires in the vicinity that were_ _ **not**_ _of the Volturi found themselves immediately unable to move, a blessing compared to what could have come from Jane versus Alec._

 _The blond female swept into the house with all the ferocity and stature of a Goddess, or so she would have it appear. Her poise was unmistakably practiced and she seemed to carry a heavy weight on her dainty shoulders. She looked around the room at the incapacitated 'vegetarians' before she seemed to find who she was looking for._

" _Release them, dear brother. They dare not run away." Her voice was high pitched but melodious, her eyes were the only feature to belie the horror within the child dressed in black and red._

" _As you wish, sister." Alec had followed his twin into the house, his red eyes alight in more than curiosity as he closed them for a moment. It was an interesting feeling, bringing his power back to him- it came back alive on fire. Not a painful thing, more reinvigorating than anything else. Alec had longed to test its limits, and whether or not it actually made him more powerful, but had kept such thoughts to himself in recent times._

 _Aro had become all too curious about his twin enforcers and the calmer of the two preferred to keep said interest wholly on his angrier sister._

 _Once released the 'vegetarian' vampires all gathered together in what was vaguely a defensive stance. Demetri and Felix just chuckled at their attempts to close the gaps in what was a paltry defense at best._

" _Jane," Eleazar nodded in respect to the little blond Guard. He turned to the others and greeted them as well. "Alec, Felix, Demetri. It is a rare thing to see you at all, let alone in my home. To what do I owe this pleasure?"_

" _You owe it to two of your company, Eleazar." Jane replied with her eyes fully trained on Carlisle and Esme. "Carlisle and Esme Cullen- I have come from my Masters with a message of great importance. Hear these words well, because I will not repeat them."_

 _Jane waited for all of a moment before she continued, her eyes devilish and full of something that Carlisle could not place. The older Cullen began to wish that his children were with him, being blind and uninformed was such a new thing to him- a crippling thing._

" _Aro, Caius, and Marcus have been given news of a human in your presence- a human with knowledge of our kind. We were given this information recently and have checked into it, this human is still alive- and a danger to our kind with such knowledge in her head."_

" _Yes bu-" Esme could not finish her sentence before Jane rounded her painful powers on the matronly Vampire. She writhed in pain as Carlisle tried to support her, his eyes brimming with anger and pain of their own. He looked to Jane with pleading eyes, the Volturi Guard waited a moment or two more before releasing his mate._

" _Silence, you lost your turn to speak when you did not come forward yourselves of such a human." Jane narrowed her eyes at Esme and turned to Carlisle. "Control your mate, or we will."_

" _Yes, Jane." Carlisle replied with his eyes downcast. It was the deepest sense of surrender he could convey at the moment. "Please continue, if you will."_

" _I will." Jane snapped. "Aro had originally decided that this girl, this_ _ **Bella Swan**_ _," Jane poured as much disdain into the name she could. "be brought before us. However, a new messenger appeared in Volterra not two days hence- a messenger with the most peculiar request."_

 _Jane waited, her eyes scanning Carlisle and Esme as she smirked in an animal way._

" _Your own son, Carlisle, came to us. He had many things to say, and even more to show the great Aro through his gifts." Jane smiled fully, her eyes widening in an almost hungry way. "He spoke of a nomad vampire who wanted this girl dead, of a possible 'army' of newborns being amassed in Seattle, of wolves, of a girl who can stop vampires, and of treachery. Your own coven splits, does it not?"_

" _It does, but I will bring them together again."_

" _I doubt that," Demetri said with a sadistic grin. Carlisle whipped his eyes upward to the tracker, he looked as though he wished to speak but thought much better of the idea._

" _Look at me!" Jane growled, Carlisle obeyed immediately. "This warning you will receive_ _ **once**_ _and once only. This Bella Swan, the human who can break even enthrallment, has gained the attention of Aro as one who would make a useful addition to our ranks- and that is now officially_ _ **your**_ _task, Carlisle Cullen. You will go to her, and either by force or charm you will bring her to my Master."_

" _She will not easily be separated from the wolves, Jane, it is believed that one is mated to her." Carlisle kept himself as calm as he could in spite of things- he truly did not wish to bring the powers of the Guard down upon himself or Esme._

" _Then bring the dog, my Master wishes very much to see if it cannot be tamed." Jane replied flippantly, she twirled towards the door and began to leave, stopping only to turn her head back with a wicked grin. "Or you could always disobey and wait until my Master decides to come to_ _ **you**_ _, would that not be an interesting reunion Carlisle? He has missed you so, your experiments and curiosities were always…_ _ **valuable**_ _…"_

* * *

"So Aro knows of Bella." Jasper sighed and slammed his hand on the table, it left an imprint and caused both Rosalie and Esme to jump. "Damnation this makes our choices harder, the trap is already set and now we have nothing left to do than take either bait."

"Bait? What do you mean, son?" Esme's voice was quieter than usual, Rose found herself wondering if it was because of whatever Jane had caused her adoptive mother to experience.

"You were given two choices, and fulfilled half of both by coming here at all." Jasper stood and began to pace, his mind working as the Major within him came out. "Now it all comes down to which side you really want to fight- because that is what the Volturi want from us. They are expecting you to choose _them_ and try to take the girl- a way to rile the Pack… Damn!"

Jasper turned to Emmett and looked at him intensely. His eyes said more than words ever could to his brother, who nodded in return and stood to follow him.

"We will be back. Rosalie please see to it that Carlisle and Esme are ready to come to the meeting place by midnight tonight." Jasper spoke quickly as he pulled out his phone and rushed from the house with Emmett.

Bringing up the number for the only wolf that would matter he pressed the 'call' button and waited for an answer. It came within two rings.

"Hello?" The deep voice held the natural alpha timbre that Jasper had desperately sought in his thoughts.

"The situation has become more complicated than I can say here. We must meet, tonight. Carlisle and Esme have come after being… detained… They will be subjected to judgement and then we must plan." Jasper was running a patrol, he realized, as he circled the area that was now his territory.

"What happened?"

"Bella's life is now forfeit according to Vampiric law, and the Volturi see her immortality as theirs for the taking now." The growl in the background was all Jasper needed to know that he had the wolves' attention now.

"Midnight, the usual clearing." With that the call ended. It was mere moments later that a spine chilling, if faded, howl split the air.

"This isn't going to end well, is it Jasper?" Emmett's question was more honest than one looking for pity, though Jasper could feel the actual fear beneath the words.

"Not without a miracle, Emmett. If rumors are to be believed, if Carlisle's journals hold true… we will need one hell of a miracle." Jasper closed his eyes and not for the first time in recent days wondered just what had become of Alice and Edward- and what they were playing at with their tricks.

* * *

Jane, Alec, Demetri, and Felix halted their steps as the sun began to set finally- though it had remained behind cloud cover for a large portion of the day. They were just outside of Vancouver, having run the distance from the Denali Coven, intent on their minds. They had stopped a few times to feed, once more for the fun of the chase than an actual need for food. Hikers always made for interesting prey.

"Do you think he will obey, sister?" Alec asked as he searched his sister's lovely face. "Or are you hoping he doesn't?"

"I find myself of two minds, brother." Jane smiled again, this one a rare real smile for the angry girl. "If the girl is brought to us, saves the trouble of having to come and get her. **However** , if he disobeys and we must come to them… well, Edward did say the girl was able to hold off not only vampires but also those **dogs** … Would make for an interesting fight, don't you think?"

"Humans have no fight in them." Felix spat as he looked about the horizon. "All of them merely talk and no action, without strength or conviction even weaker than usual. The girl will give us no trouble either way."

"Ah, Felix, ever the eloquent one aren't we?" Demetri gave his friend a roguish smile as he eyed the stronger man. "How unlike you."

"We still need to inspect this possible threat in Seattle, sister." Alec stopped the conversation as he looked once again to the Southern horizon. "This nomad that Edward spoke of- the one who wishes the girl dead… She would make our Master very angry should she actually succeed."

"She won't." Jane's eyes narrowed and her entire body tensed at the idea of the fight to come. "We will make sure of that."

"Oh, how I know that tone," Demetri laughed and coiled himself. They were still miles, a few hours run, away from Seattle- but the readiness was always welcome. "You intend to make this sport, do you not?"

"I do," Jane laughed and began to run- a blur to anything without the vision of the supernatural. "Who am I to have all the fun?"

* * *

 _A/N: I apologize for my lack of uploading the last few days. It has been hectic here with everything and I was unable to get this put up until now. I promise I didn't forget you!_

 _A couple of things really quick about this chapter; **Yes** there was a time jump from when Edward went to Carlisle and Esme and now- and I won't be really looking into what they were doing in those days. My mind likes to think that Carlisle, ever a man of observation over action, would have waited to see if he heard from his wayward son (i.e Jasper) before making a final decision. Hence the time jump from Edward's departure to the Volturi presence and subsequent return to Forks._

 _And yes, for those of you who wished to see them; the Volturi have made their entrances! Well, some of them anyway. And, in my opinion, it was at least the fun ones!_

 _Other than that I really want to thank all of you for sticking with me and being here through all of the issues with this and would like to extend my deepest gratitude to **all** of my readers, whether you comment or favorite, or follow or not. You are all so amazing to me and I want very much to thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope you enjoy it._


	48. The Judgement of the Heart

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

The clearing was as charged as a lightning rod, energy crackled on both sides of the great fire that was the treaty line. Carlisle and Esme stood behind Jasper with Rosalie and Emmett behind them, not at all trapped and yet they didn't run. The wolves had fanned out into a line, four wide and two deep. Their sheer size made the 'good' doctor visibly blanche- a feat considering how pale he was anyway.

"Carlisle, Esme." Bella's soft and smooth voice broke through the air between the pack and vampires. She looked at the couple that had once been like parents to her, and to her chagrin she felt very little for them. Carlisle was not a bad man, neither was Esme a horrible woman- but abandonment left its own scars.

And time did not always heal everything.

"Bella, dear, it is a fine sight to see you doing so well." Carlisle nodded in the human's direction as he, too, scanned the other. His heart would have stopped for a beat if it could- she looked so _alive_ , so different from the girl who had graced his household not too long ago. "I see that you have managed to flourish in our absence."

A growl rose in the chest of a few wolves at the words, memories of the vampires' involvement in her deterioration coming to the surface of their minds. Sam barked once to cease the noise and moved to nose Bella into a seat where she could be well protected by the Pack for the duration of the meeting.

Five wolves formed a partial circle around Bella in her seat as two slunk away into the darkness to shift back to humanity. Stepping into the dim firelight came Sam and Jake- both sporting the same menacingly grim looks on their faces, their bodies tight from the tension coiled in the muscles. Jared followed behind by half a step though he came to stand slightly behind Bella on the right whereas Jake and Sam moved to positions near the head of the fire.

Jasper nodded and moved to his seat at the forefront of the grouping of seats on 'his' side of the fire, Carlisle and Esme were seated behind and off to the side with Rosalie and Emmett standing either side of them- guards in a way.

"I am sorry to have brought such news to you and your Pack today, Uley." Jasper's southern twang made the seriousness of the sentence seem diluted- something that Bella found herself happy for. "As I said to you earlier, however, the situation has become infinitely more complicated than it was before."

"We will discuss that in a moment, if you will Whitlock-Hale." Sam replied in is typical deep voice. The two had decided to use surnames until it was deemed whether or not Carlisle and Esme could be trusted- it was best to keep possible enemies on their toes and both men had agreed completely to downplay the relationship between the Whitlock-Hale coven and the Pack. "As it stands, there are two in your company who must present themselves for judgement as per the conditions outlined in their own treaty with my People."

"Understandable, Alpha, justice must be served- one way or the other, correct?" Jasper's unreadable face was bland as ever. He gave to clues as to the thoughts hiding behind his stone-hard and snow white mask.

"Black, if you will." Sam motioned for Jake to step forward. The younger man nodded to his Alpha and stood from his seat. Jake was holding the trinket again as he spread his arms wide with palms sky facing.

"Carlisle Cullen, Esme Cullen, for the breach in our treaty you have been brought before the treaty fire to be judged- as is the right of my People." Jake began. As he spoke he turned his hands palm earthward, the trinket glimmered in the dim light for a moment as he passed it over the fire. "As the next Chief of my people, heir to the Black bloodline, and successor to Ephraim Black of the Pack with which you came to treaty with- I will be the one to judge. The ancestors of my People, the Spirits of the Land and Sky, and your own intentions shall be your witnesses. Do you accept this?"

Esme nodded mutely, her eyes shining with venomous tears that threatened to run down her perfectly unmarred face. Carlisle, however, nodded and spoke as he did so. "We agreed when we signed, as we agree now. We will face judgement and accept the consequences of the breach in our treaty."

"Step forward, Carlisle Cullen." Jake's voice was commanding and held a maturity level that made Bella's heart break for a moment. Jake shouldn't be having to do this. He shouldn't be in this clearing at midnight, having been forced to grow up a decade in just a few short weeks. None of them should be here, the wolves or vampires or her.

Her. Wasn't all this _her_ fault?

Bella's thoughts were interrupted by a nose to her shoulder, Paul's, and she shook her head out of her reverie. She was overreacting now- and would need to reign herself in.

"Carlisle Cullen, vampire, doctor. You heal the sick and tend the wounded as a profession, correct?" Jake asked his first question, Carlisle merely nodded. The trinket remained dark in the night. "You came to this land attempting to live in peace with those who would otherwise be your food, did you not?" Carlisle voiced a yes and again the trinket remained dark. "Have you ever, under treaty, intentionally harmed a human or allowed a human to come to harm?"

"I have not." Carlisle's voice was strong, the trinket remained dark. Jasper almost sighed in relief. If Jake had worded that question even three words differently… the night would have become day from the light of the charm in his hand.

"Did you know of your coven-mate Edward Cullen's unsafe fascination with the human Bella Swan?" Jake narrowed his eyes as he spoke, awaiting the answer.

"Yes, I did." The trinket did nothing, dark as ever.

"Did you in any way attempt to keep the human Bella Swan from coming to harm once this situation came to light in your coven?"

"I did attempt to keep Bella safe." Nothing.

"Did you know of his attack on the human Bella Swan when you left this town a year ago?" Jake was digging now, but his gut was telling him there was little, if anything, to find.

"Not until recently." The trinket remained still.

"Did you suspect or otherwise have a founded instinct that the vampire known as Edward Cullen was a danger to the human Bella Swan, or, that he _had_ attacked her in any way once the coven had left?" The air tensed as Jake asked his final question, all ears were avidly awaiting the answer.

"Yes, I did."

The trinket did not glow. Truth had been spoken, and in that moment a fierce growling rippled through the Pack as Paul and Leah both broke their places to step forward. Sam quickly muttered a few orders to his Pack, low enough that Bella couldn't hear them, and the noise died down as quickly as it had begun.

"If you knew, Carlisle Cullen, why did you not come back to inspect or to check?" Jake's hand tightened onto the leather thong onto which the trinket hung.

"I did not come because I was not sure of what I would find." Carlisle began, his eyes on the darkened trinket in Jake's hand. "I had grown very fond of Bella Swan, so much so that I will admit to thoughts of bringing her into the family for Edward, had it been what my son truly wanted. She had brought such life and laughter to my family that we had not seen or experienced in generations, and I think that all of us found ourselves in the dark once the bright light that had been her presence was torn from us." Carlisle took a breath and continued into the dark, eyes not meeting Bella's though he felt her stare on him in the night. "I stayed away out of fear- for my coven and for the human who we had all grown to love in our own way. I felt that if she was given distance from our kind, from my family, that she would be able to live the whole and beautiful life that she deserved."

There was silence after Carlisle spoke, all in attendance stared at the little ancient charm that Jake held. He passed it once over the fire as he spoke, his voice seeming to boom and echo yet whisper in the night.

"Your words have witnessed you, my Ancestors have judged you, and the Spirits of Land and Sky have found you… innocent. You are innocent of the crimes of your coven-mate Edward Cullen- and shall not suffer the fate of the one who broke the covenant between our kinds."

Carlisle nodded and sighed in quite visible relief. He stepped back away from Jake and waited. The future Chief turned to Esme and motioned her forward with his hand in silence. The female vampire stood almost shakily, her face an almost literal novel etched with fear.

"Esme Cullen, vampire, mother. You have formed a family with your coven-mates, correct?" Jake asked as he brought his eyes up and down Esme's face. She nodded as the trinket remained dark. "You followed your mate to this land attempting peace with those that would be your food, am I correct?" Esme nodded again. The air remained dark. "Have you ever, under treaty, intentionally harmed a human or allowed a human to come to harm?"

"I have not." Esme muttered softly, her voice steadying slowly as she spoke. Nothing happened.

"Did you know of your coven-mate Edward Cullen's unsafe fascination with the human Bella Swan?"

"Yes, I did." Esme replied with more strength than before. Nothing still.

"Did you in any way attempt to keep the human Bella Swan from coming to harm once this situation came to light in your coven?"

"In a way, I did; and in a way, I did not." Esme looked down in shame as she spoke, the trinket did not glow. Truth had been spoken.

"What did you do that knowingly placed the human Bella Swan in danger?" Jake's voice was tight, the Pack itching to spring behind him.

"I did not attempt to keep my son from her, I brought Bella into our life and our home. I made every effort to cater to her needs, human or otherwise, and wished to bring her close enough to Edward that he would choose to turn her." The growls that erupted as Esme spoke made the woman flinch. The trinket remained dark to her words. Sam yelled orders at his Pack once again.

"Why would you willingly place the human in such danger, knowing that due to the nature of your kind she was one slip away from a painful death?"

"I, like my husband, learned to love Bella. She became part of my family, a daughter in a way. She was bright and full of life; her presence brought so many things to our home that had been missing for decades- and I cherished those moments." Esme took a breath and continued, hoping her truthfulness would save her from her actions. "In the beginning, I will admit I was selfish, however. Edward was happier, if tortured, by Bella's presence. And I wanted to keep that, keep her, for him."

The trinket remained dark, the wolves huffed and pawed the ground.

"Did you know of his attack on the human Bella Swan when you left this town a year ago?" Jake continued onward, asking his final questions.

"No, I did not." No light.

"Did you suspect or otherwise have a founded instinct that the vampire known as Edward Cullen was a danger to the human Bella Swan, or, that he _had_ attacked her in any way once the coven had left?" This was it, and Esme knew it. She took a deep breath and looked up to meet Jake in the eye as she spoke.

"If I did suspect, I don't remember it. I trusted my son, Edward, and in my mother's heart I knew, _knew_ , that he would never bring such pain to Bella or Charlie. My instincts may have told me to question but I followed my heart and trusted my son, a mistake that I see now and will not continue into the future."

The trinket remained still and dark, Jake closed his eyes and seemed to meditate on it for a moment before speaking again.

"Your words have witnessed you, my Ancestors have judged you, and the Spirits of Land and Sky have found you… partially guilty. You are innocent of the crimes of your coven-mate Edward Cullen- and shall not suffer the fate of the one who broke the covenant between our kinds. However; you are guilty of knowingly, willingly, and with intention, placing a human in danger. For this breach in trust you are asked to submit to my Alpha for punishment as he sees fit."

The tension in the air charged as Esme's face fell, her body shaking in tears that couldn't fall. Carlisle moved to gather his wife into his arms quickly, already voicing a call for mercy on the woman whom he loved so dearly.

" _Esme Cullen,"_ A light shimmering and the great whispering of animal howls and human voices drew the attention onto Bella- who had a thousand-mile stare in her eyes as she spoke. _"You followed your heart down this path of your choosing._ _Though your trust in your family was misplaced and misguided, your intentions towards the life of Isabella Swan were not grounded in maliciousness. From this, we judge you, and from this we sentence you."_ The power seemed to tighten in the air, Bella's eyes glazed over as she swayed in her seat. _"Esme Cullen, vampire, enemy that is a friend. Your punishment is this: you are to never set foot across the treaty line, under pain of death, and your presence among humans is to be limited, so that you may never again influence a mortal in such a way."_

The light faded from Bella as her eyes rolled back into her head. She slumped sideways to be caught by Jared, who slowly lowered her to the ground and against the now prone side of her still wolf mate. Paul curled himself around the pale girl with his head on her lap and his tail draped across her legs.

"Or, I guess, you will be judged by whatever that is." Sam's voice was sardonic and almost exasperated as he eyed Bella. "She has deemed you worthy of minimal punishment, and her judgement will stand. Should you and your mate create a new treaty with our Pack or enter into the already standing treaty of Jasper Whitlock-Hale and his coven- you shall not set foot onto our land, or you shall feel our teeth at your throat."

"That is more than I thought I would get, and I thank you for such kindness." Esme whispered as she held her husband tightly. Carlisle guided her to their seats and, without letting her go, sat down with his eyes on the Pack.

"What are our options at this point, Alpha? We wish to stay and to protect Bella, to right the destruction our decisions caused. And to continue to live in peace with you and your People."

"Let us talk, then, Cullen." Sam replied openly to the older man, his eyes softening as he saw the truth behind Carlisle's words and Esme's reaction. "We have much to discuss and little time to discuss it."

* * *

 _*A/N: I know that I have been gone for quite some time, and I am very sorry for this. I have no excuses and the reasons behind my absence are personal and health related- though I would like my readers to know that I am back and with a vengeance. I am hoping to have a **minumum** of one chapter up a day for this story until the end. If that is not possible I will ensure at least 3-5 a week, as I do still have some limitations on me._

 _I would like to address a couple things in reviews and if you do not wish to read that I thank you for staying beside me until now, and hope you join me again. If you do wish to have some questions answered, please read below:_

 _1\. To those who have openly and privately chastised me for bringing in the Volturi now I would like to say, without too many spoilers, that you have seen the last of them for a while at least. They **are,** however, pivotal to the climax of the story and will be back **but** the next 3-5 chapters are slower, longer, and much less drama-filled; though that doesn't mean they hold any less meat for the story than the ones that can sometimes read like a soap opera._

 _2\. Bella and School; yes, she is still in school. As of right now, and this is a detail I somehow managed to write in my chapter setup but NOT into the chapter itself a few back, Bella is on a medical home school leave. I don't know what it would be called around the world, or even outside of my own personal school district, but the schools around where I live do have this option for children who have "provable illnesses." I will add this detail in the next chapter to settle things a little more, and also hope to bring about a little more closure._

 _3\. The other parents, and knowledge of the secret: Yes, it is **violently** unfair that other parents do not know the truth and that Embry and Paul both have to lie not only to their parents but the rest of their tribe. I know this and will address it soon, and I hope you do continue to read this story both before and after that._

 _Thank you to everyone, you are all amazing and make writing so worth it when it feels like there isn't anything left to write for. Thank you, so much._


	49. Sacrificial Lamb

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

Hours later, as the sun began to crest the horizon to the East, the meeting finally seemed to be winding down. Carlisle and Esme had many questions for both their adoptive children and the natives of the Pack- though Carlisle had suspicions that not _all_ of the answers had been the whole answers but he resolved to ask Jasper about them in private later.

Not that he distrusted his children or the Pack inherently, it was more curiosity as to why either party felt the need to continue such secrets when judgement had been passed- with both he and Esme being found guiltless, or partially.

"If I may, Alpha, could my wife and I be given a few days to think about our choice? Our treaty with you has been breached and I do not expect it to stand, but this is something that we must talk about together." Carlisle was ever the diplomat as he spoke, his soothing voice calm and clear. "We shall remain at the house in Jasper's territory, well away from your land and your People."

"That concession can be granted provided Jasper is willing to claim responsibility for ensuring the safety of Forks. Caution is our best option and 'vegetarians' or not you are still vampires." Sam looked towards Jasper with a curious look. "Will you take them for the time being until we meet again?"

"Carlisle and Esme are welcome in the house- it is their home after all." Jasper sighed and rubbed the back of his head a little. "We will keep our eyes on them and ensure no harm comes to the humans in Forks from them or us. We will also patrol our territory and report to you any findings or new scents."

"Very good." Sam nodded and began to stand, only to be stopped by Jasper.

"Please wait for a moment, if you will, Alpha." Jasper's tone was more a command than a question- something that no wolf had ever heard from the soldier vampire. He wasn't commanding in a condescending way, more like one friend to another; which was something that still felt weird to the Pack. Jasper turned to Emmett and Rosalie with a nod. "Take Carlisle and Esme to the house. Rose, do stay with them while I am away for now. Emmett- please finish the job we spoke of earlier while I am gone. There is still so much we will need to do before the next time we meet here."

"Can do, Jasper." Emmett gave a lopsided smile as he eyed Bella still asleep in her mate's side and fur. "Seems like Little Red Riding Hood is still playing Sleeping Beauty so let her know that our rematch will have to happen soon." Paul nodded with an agreeing huff as he smiled beneath the fur. The competition between his mate and the big vampire was something to behold- especially since Bella had managed to beat the brute three times in a row thus far on 1-on-1 Call of Duty.

That was just sad, especially because the vamp _should_ have quicker reflexes than the forever-stumbling accident waiting to happen that was Bella.

Rose, Emmett, and their adoptive parents disappeared into the foggy morning light in complete silence. Jasper and the Pack watched them leave while holding their breath, releasing it only once the group was well out of sight and hearing range- even for creatures of their kind.

"What is this about, Jasper?" Sam switched almost immediately to first names once he was alone with the soldier. Their mutual respect for one another- man to soldier, wolf to vampire, broken soul to kin- allowed for such familiarity in this instance.

Jasper, to be honest, preferred it that way. He had never felt a moments animosity towards the Pack or their Tribe and had, under his own terms, managed to control the hunger inside of him rather well to the point that even Bella ( _delicious_ smelling though she was) couldn't sway his choice in food.

"The situation regarding Bella has become much more complicated and yet eerily easier at the same time; and it revolves around the 'royal' family of my kind… and the adoptive parents." Jasper was to the point and quick with his words.

"Define, and quickly." Sam shot a look to Bella, who was stirring, and coaxed Jasper to speed this up.

"The Volturi are the self-proclaimed rulers of my kind, they reside in Volterra, Italy. The 'brothers' that make up the family head are actually proclaimed Saints of the city for ridding them of their vampire problem centuries ago. Little do any of the humans know that the vampire problem never left- it only moved underground in their very city." Jasper took a breath to continue speaking. "They have learned of Bella and her ability to block or counter some of our powers from a mysterious source at first, and then Edward himself once Bella managed to overcome the thrall he ensnared her in and push him physically back fifty or more feet."

"What do they have to do with Bella?" Jake snarled, stepping forward angrily. Sam held up a single hand to calm the young wolf.

"They enforce our rules, the statutes of secrecy my kind created to make sure that we were never discovered, truly discovered, by the mortals." Jasper hung his head. "Carlisle was to report her knowledge of our kind and summarily bring her, willing or not, to Volterra once it reached the point in which we could not convince the girl that her suspicions about us and our kind were figments of our imagination. That or we were to kill her. Aro is not picky usually, and will take silence however he gets it." Jasper waited and almost rolled his eyes as the wolves began their typical chorus of growling at the idea of Bella being handed over to human-eating vampires _or_ being killed just for knowing of them at all.

"What does this have to do with Dr. Cullen and his wife?" Sam took charge again, squaring his shoulders and tensing against the need to howl as well.

"They were given a choice, one that we can use to our advantage if we play the cards right. Carlisle and Esme were to come here and either bring the girl with them, whether or not the Pack followed, to Volterra themselves. Or they were to come here and prepare for the Volturi _themselves_ to come and retrieve Bella, or their final choice was to not come here at all and the Volturi still would have come to collect Isabella Swan."

"Why do they want her?" Ah, _there_ it was. The question Jasper had nearly been begging the Pack to ask.

"They want her for her possible gift." The confusion on their faces made Jasper sardonically smile. "She showed mortal abilities, the silence of her mind is what drew Edward back to Forks and to her in the first place after he left to Alaska that first day. And since she has been bonded with the- her mate… her powers have increased a hundredfold. These can and most likely _will_ translate to even more powers after she is turned to a vampire by the Volturi. And once she is turned they will find a way, some threat or other coercion, to keep Bella within their grasp to use that power to their own gain."

"So what you're saying is that not only do we have some fucking crazy red-head to deal with but now we have to deal with what sounds like a damn _army_ of your kind too?" Jared groaned as he ran his hand over his face in a mixture of anger and apprehension.

"No, just the one. I'm sure of that."

"What?" Jake whipped his head back to Jasper so quickly that it hurt, he had turned away when Jasper mentioned Bella dying.

"The Volturi guard that was sent to Carlisle and Esme will go and use the newborns in Seattle for sport at best, they live for such things and killing our own kind is rare unless we are in territory wars. They will leave no one alive unless they show an _irreplaceably_ promising post-death talent." Jasper shrugged. "That is the good news, Victoria is either already dead or will be soon."

"Small favors, thank the Spirits." Sam mumbled as he calculated things in his mind. "How long do you think before the Volturi will make their move?"

"Months at least. They will want to prepare, bring their loyalists to them and gather more than the guard they already have at their disposal. If my estimations of the arrogant Aro are correct, if he hasn't changed in the few decades that Carlisle has been absent from them, he will send the loyalist pawns first. He will test our power, our ability to stop their attacks and their scouts."

"Carlisle lived amongst them?" Sam was incensed and opened his mouth to order the wolves to go and kill the doctor.

"He did, years ago. He remained a steadfast vegetarian while amongst them, and such choices caused the split between Carlisle and the Volturi. He didn't care for their flippant ways and needless killing." Jasper smoothed his slip over as quickly as he could. "His journals have proved invaluable, though, so please keep the source alive so I can find information that may not be in them."

"If he proves to betray Bella in any way-"

"I will kill him myself, Sam Uley." Jasper's conviction was startling to the wolves, but welcome either way.

"Alright. We will prepare on our end, training will continue and increase for the Pack. Will you and your brute of a brother be able to help with that?"

"We will. But it is not just the Pack that must train." Jasper replied monotonously.

"What are you talking about?" Jared stepped in front of Bella and Paul instinctually as he spoke.

"I mean she must learn to use whatever powers she has been given through her connection to her mate. There may come a time when we _won't_ be there- when she will be alone, and the same power that saved her the other night will be the same one to save her then too." Jasper expected the explosive reaction from the Pack, but the suddenly human and _naked_ Paul was not on his list of expected reactions.

"You mean to use Bella as _bait_ , don't you?!" Paul advanced on the vampire who stood on the other side of the dying fire. "I can see it on your face, leech! The calculations, the thoughts, weighing the pros and cons of making Bella nothing more than a moving _snack_ to your kind for us to pick off!"

Jasper held his hands up in a gesture of peace. "I will admit it crossed my mind, wolf. But that is not my intention at the current moment."

"Then what the _fuck_ are you thinking?!" Paul's voice was loud enough to echo through the clearing in a way that caused his own Pack mates to fear him for a moment.

"You're young, wolf, but I'm sure that you've heard a particular phrase in your life- one that will make this battle all the easier on our end." Jasper calmly stared into Paul's eyes, never wavering in their gaze.

"What phrase?"

"A wolf in sheep's clothing."

"Wait, that stupid idiom from the _Bible_? How is a phrase about being wary of the innocent when in reality they are dangerous going to help us?" Jake whined in exasperation between the two men.

"Think of it a little differently, wolf." Jasper nudged Paul with his words, willing the other to truly thing about what he was saying. When no one said anything, he groaned and explained further. "My brother once said to Bella that they were like a lion and a lamb." Paul growled at the mention of Edward and Bella in the past but Jasper could see the wheels begin to turn behind the eyes of the wolf. "If Bella is already a lamb so to speak then…"

"A lamb in wolf's clothing." Bella's heavy voice broke the moment between the two men as she stood with a groan- he back popping as she stretched and wiped sleep from her eyes. The brown-haired girl turned to fix her stare on Paul and Jasper, meeting both in the eye for a moment before continuing. "You plan on making me a lamb in wolf's clothing."

"Wait, _what?_ " Jake's voice was desperate as he spoke, pulling at his short hair. "What the hell are we talking about doing?!"

"Jasper wants me to train the power I have through Paul, he wants me to learn to harness it and use it at will- without fainting or becoming otherwise vulnerable through its use." Bella locked eyes again with Jasper, seeing that she was right she continued. "He wants me, the 'lamb,' to put on the outward appearance of the wolf. I won't _ever_ be as strong, or fast, or invulnerable as any of you- that's just not possible. _But_ I don't have to _be_ those things, I just have to _look_ like I can be those things."

"Very good, Bella. Glad to see _someone_ in the class was paying attention- and you slept through most of it!" Jasper joked to break the tension, the wolves huffed out laughter as Jared and Jake cracked their grim facades. Only Sam and Paul remained stoic in the face of his words.

"We will discuss this idea as a Pack, Jasper Whitlock-Hale. And while I know you meant no disrespect or harm in the suggestion I will warn you that we will _not_ use Bella as bait- even if it were to save her life in the end." Sam's voice was close to venomous as he spoke, but his eyes were softer than his tone. The man in him knew that bait was always best for a predator, but the wolf- the imprinted wolf- growled and howled at the very thought of allowing Bella to be in harm's way for even a moment. Even _if_ she managed to make them afraid of her and think twice.

Jasper nodded to Sam and then to the Pack. "Please know I meant no disrespect, but sometimes the best traps involve the worst risk."

With that, he was gone. His shape blurred across the open space and into the trees in the slowly rising fog. Wolf and human eyes followed his run until Jasper was completely gone, and then all wolf eyes turned to the lone human of the group.

"Are you _insane?!_ " Paul roared, Jared and Jake moving to hold him back by his shoulders as he continue to move towards Bella. His body was shaking so hard that even Sam didn't know how Paul was still in his human skin.

"No." Bella's tone was bland and her face even more so. "But he has a good point. You want me safe? Don't try to hide me, don't try to hide things _from_ me. I may be human but I'm not completely useless or stupid, you know."

" _You will_ _ **not**_ _put yourself in danger, Bella Swan._ " Paul's voice was a low growl, dangerous and biting. Bella's breath caught in her throat as her eyes went wide. Looking into his eyes, his _wolf's_ eyes, Bella realized instantly that she was heading into territory that she may not be able to come back from.

"I may be your imprint, your wife according to Tribal law, but I am _not_ something you can order around Paul Lahote." Bella's tone was matter-of-fact and her expression breaking only once to show the sadness beneath her unyielding moral choice. "My name is Isabella Marie Swan, I am 18, and I will not allow people I care about, and love, to sacrifice themselves while I sit on the side and do _nothing._ Not when I have the ability to stand and face the monsters that want me myself. If you can't handle that, if _any_ of you have the intention to keep me from keeping _my_ family and _my_ people safe too- then I guess I have nothing more to say right now."

Bella turned to Sam and gave a quick, curt, nod. No one said anything as Bella's words processed in their minds.

"I know the way, Sam. Get your Pack home safely." Bella's voice softened as she spoke to her Alpha, _her_ Alpha even though she wouldn't admit it at the moment.

And with that she turned and walked away. Paul screamed her name behind her, the screams very quickly turning to howls as she continued to walk into the forest. The howls became growling, which Bella could barely make out a distinct fight going on behind her. She hesitated for a moment, not looking back.

Shaking her head and squaring her shoulders against the moment of hesitation Bella walked deeper into the trees until the noises faded away and Bella knew she was well out of eyesight of the Pack. Her Pack. Bella's shoulders slumped a little and her stride became less sure of itself as she walked in the dimly lit forest, the light of the morning barely reaching through the trees. Her resolve remained, she was no Damsel in Distress… But was becoming the sacrificial lamb really going to change anything in the end?

Yes, yes it was. If it meant her wolves would be safe.

Sticks snapping and rushed footsteps behind her caused Bella to whip her head around fast enough it popped multiple times as she stumbled and almost fell to the ground. A bark of female laughter startled her as a hand grabbed Bella's arm to steady her before she hit the ground.

"You sure as hell know how to rile the guys up, don't you?" Leah's voice was strained and her body looked well beaten even in human form.

"And you look like you know how to fight with them." Bella responded as she eyed the bruises forming and fading on Leah's skin. "No broken bones?"

"Almost, but Sam made Paul let me go. It was a damn near thing though." Leah sighed and rubbed the back of her head. She hesitated and then took a breath and exhaled it quickly. "Alright, look. I'm not saying that I agree with you _completely_. You shouldn't be front line and the first one to fight them, but keeping you helpless doesn't help _any_ of us."

"So, what you're saying is you agree with training me?" Bella's eyes lit up with hope as she looked at her friend, who nodded once. "Thank you Leah!"

"Don't thank me, woman." Leah groaned as Bella nearly jumped into her arms with a big hug. Leah felt comfort in the hug, whether it came from the touch of her friend or if it was the imprint she didn't really care. "I'm not here because I agree with you, doof. I'm here because Paul ran off and I'm apparently the _only_ one smart enough to think that he'd try to come after you."

Bella dropped her arms from Leah instantly at the other girl's words, the native woman wrapped her own around the now even paler Bella to catch her.

"What do you mean Paul _ran off_?" Bella's voice was little more than a squeak.

"I did say you know how to rile the guys up, Bella. That meant your guy too." Leah couldn't look at Bella as she spoke. "But yes, Paul ran off after we all fought and Sam made us stop. The guys ran after him, I could hear them all in our link. Paul was blocking us though- he's gotten really good at that actually, according to Sam. He was even able to block an Alpha command from Sam to show us where he was. The only way he can do that is if it's about _you_ , so I ran here."

Bella looked around into the forest but saw nothing, her heart leapt at the idea of Paul coming to her- but her brain also got her to remember that Paul was currently _inhumanly angry_ and that him finding her right now would not be a good thing. Not that it wouldn't be considered 'romantic' but certain people, but Bella was smarter than she had been once. If only a little, it seemed.

Leah took Bella's silence and looking around as conflicted feelings and decided to keep walking. Standing in the woods was going to do _neither_ of them any favors and Leah remembered something about Charlie coming to Billy's house this morning to talk to the Chief and some of the council about Bella and the situation.

Not for the first-time Leah found herself wishing that Charlie and Bella could just move onto the reservation and be done with it. Charlie was a cop, and sure he was a Forks cop- but he helped the Reservation too. And Bella was Pack, Charlie knew the secret, why couldn't they just move into one of the empty houses near the rest of the Pack? What was so wrong with including people, families even, into this supposedly great burden of their children?

* * *

At the Black residence, there was a tense silence in the air. Coffee sat getting cold in the hands of the men and one woman in attendance to the table. Billy fidgeted in his chair uncomfortably as Charlie Swan regarded him with the eyes of an old friend, a disappointed old friend at that.

Joshua Uley had a good idea of what was on Charlie Swan's mind, but he kept his mouth shut while time ticked away in the background. Sue Clearwater was the only one who had even taken a drink of her coffee but she was being just as quiet as the men at the table, choosing to wait and see instead of assuming what this was about. It wasn't good, because when Charlie Swan calls a meeting with most of the Council and the Chief… it's never good.

"So," Charlie began as he picked up his now cool enough to drink mug and downing the contents like a shot. He exhaled loudly and continued bluntly. "I know about the Pack, I know what your boys are. And I know about Bella's involvement in this whole debacle."

Joshua inwardly groaned as he palmed his cheek to cover the smile on his face. Sue glared across the table and tried not to look _too_ shocked.

"What makes you think there's a Pack, Charlie? Have you been reading about our legends again, or did you and Billy get too drunk fishing the other night?" Sue was being diplomatic and hoping that she was managing to fill her still bedridden husband's shoes well. She wished to the Spirits that Harry could have been here though, she was no good at this sort of thing.

Charlie rolled his eyes in almost a teenage gesture. "Sue, we've been friends long enough and I've done the Reservation enough favors for you to not try to lie to me and to take me seriously. I know about the boys, I've _seen_ their wolves and seen them become them."

"So, you also know about your daughter's connection to our boys?" Joshua decided the best course of action was to be as blunt as Charlie had been. "You know about how important she is to her Pack and, by extension, our whole tribe."

"Wasn't born yesterday, son." Charlie turned to Billy for a moment after replying to Joshua. He turned back to the other two and kept talking. "Now, I've kept Bella out of school this last week because of the incident that happened on Sunday- when she decided cliff jumping in a storm was a good idea. You know about that, right?"

"How…" Sue looked from Billy to Charlie and realized that Billy wasn't at all surprised or even reacting to his friend's words. He _knew_. "Billy, how long have you known?"

"Since that same day. Charlie learned of our secret on accident after one of our boys transformed in front of him at his house." Billy's face and tone were even and unreadable. "A few of the Cullens had returned and antagonized a possible fight out of them, it was pure accidental but Charlie was witness to it. He had a right to know then, and to be told just how important it was that our legends _remained_ a secret."

"You aren't going to tell anyone, are you?" Sue turned to Charlie with fear in her eyes. Both of her children were in the Pack, and if one credible rumor left their home it could mean disaster for them. "Charlie, you must know how important this secret is."

"I do, Sue." Charlie reached across the table and gently pat his old friend's hand. "I'm not going to tell anyone."

"Then why call us here?" Joshua was curious now and resolved to go see his son once this meeting was over.

"Because I can't keep Bella out of school forever, and her Pack seem to have issues when she's away from them or their territory too long." Charlie began and held his hand up to stop Joshua from interrupting. Guessing the question on the other man's face, he continued. "Cullens have returned, and they have taken up residence at their old house. What the Pack has chosen to do with them or whatever treaty used to exist I do not know."

Charlie knew lying wasn't the best thing but if it was what would keep a thousand questions from happening then he would do what it took. Billy could update his Council later, it wasn't Charlie's responsibility.

"So, your house and her school are in their territory again, aren't they?" Joshua chewed the inside of his cheek and looked to the table deep in thought. The Pack couldn't be completely off their game because of Bella being in Cullen territory but her education was important, and Charlie was something that would worry her if she was forced to change schools to the Reservation.

Sue began to talk to Charlie but Joshua ignored it and continued to configure things in his head. He had seen Charlie and Tiffany flirt like there was no tomorrow- it was obvious the old cop and the woman had feelings for each other. Not that they would admit it, thickheaded people that they _both_ were. But this was something to their advantage, at least.

The housing area where the Call family lived was nearly empty, most of the houses had been torn down and replaced with the event center and daycare, a large playground took up an entire block. From what Joshua could remember there was only four houses in that area anymore, and two of them were empty. It was close to the beach and would provide relative privacy since the houses backed up to the woods- something that gave Embry some safety when he had to move around.

"Sell your house in Forks and move here." Joshua found himself saying the thought out loud- and the collective sudden silence around the table made him look up. Sue looked like Joshua had just talked about performing human sacrifice on her front lawn, but Charlie and Billy had knowing smiles on their faces.

"What are you talking about, Joshua Uley? Charlie and Bella Swan are not tribe and can't live here." Sue began to say. As she opened her mouth to continue, however, Joshua interrupted.

"Technically according to Tribal Laws, Paul Lahote and Bella Swan are married as an imprinted Pack couple. She has been able to live here since their imprinting happened back in September of _last year._ " Joshua reminded the stand-in Councilwoman. "And they _can_ move here with enough support of the Tribal Council. This is not a decision that has to be unanimous, it only needs to be a 3 out of 5 decision."

"3 out of-" Sue stopped mid-sentence as Joshua's words finally hit her brain. " _That's_ why you only called us here! Charlie, that is unfair- there are two more people on this Council that deserve to be involved."

"Do they, Sue? How many times have they blocked _everything_ the Pack has asked for? How many times did Old Quil and lady Akil stop us from being able to _help_ our Pack instead of having to hurt them with rules that are so archaic I can't even find them in our records!" Joshua snapped back. "Charlie is a good friend and helper to our People, he has never failed this Tribe and it isn't even his tribe! Bella Swan was forced to live in pain and self-hatred because they wouldn't let her be _told_ that the pain was coming from the imprint. She tried to _kill_ herself because of this, and still you stand that they deserve to be here?"

Sue opened her mouth and closed it a few times as she found herself having no response to something that she honestly felt was truth. Why was Old Quil so against the Pack? Or the widow Akil? What did they have against Bella when it was clear that they obviously _knew_ it was unsafe to keep the Pack and the imprint apart?

Sighing she nodded. "As right as you may be, this is a difficult thing. Where would they live? We have many houses that are open but I don't know how our People are going to react to two pale-faces, no offense Charlie, moving here. Especially if we open the more… middle class… homes at the reservation center to them. And a cabin in the woods is a bad idea, because then it looks like we're hiding them."

"What about the neighborhood with the new event center and daycare are? Embry and Tiffany Call live there and that street only has 3 houses aside from theirs. Two of them I know for sure to be empty." Joshua gave a quick laugh and looked to Charlie. "And both of those would be a space improvement to that two bedroom one you have now. I don't know how you've managed to live in so little space for so long."

"Why put him there? It's so far from the rest of the Pack…"

"But not the schools, or the main road out of the Reservation. Charlie will still have to go to his job, you know. It's not like he's going to be able to quit and not work at all." Joshua eyed Charlie as the older man smiled.

"Not that retiring and fishing every day doesn't sound amazing, Uley." Charlie chuckled. "I wouldn't mind living there, it sounds secluded as far as neighbors go."

"It is. The lots extend to the forest edge and the event center is across two streets away, a playground is in between. There would be kid noise during the day- but you're not home often during that, are you?" Sue looked Charlie over as she milled the idea through her mind. What was wrong with moving the Swan family to the Reservation? Bella already _was_ part of the Tribe through marriage, even if the state of Washington didn't agree. And Charlie was an old friend of her People.

"I say let's do it. Allow Charlie to move here. He doesn't even have to sell his house in Forks if he doesn't want to- I'm sure he can find something to do with it." Joshua shrugged. "Neither of those empty houses are too expensive, but that would be up to you Charlie."

"I…" Sue hesitated as she thought. She held Harry's proxy vote and was standing in for him at the current moment. This would be her first big decision- was she really ready for _this_ to be it? Harry would say yes. Even knowing that he was friends with Charlie, Billy, _and_ Old Quil… Sue knew that Harry would say yes. "I say yes too, Charlie and Bella Swan can move onto the Reservation."

"And my vote has already been cast, I want nothing more than to keep Bell and Charlie safe and close." Billy spoke for the second time the entire meeting. "And Joshua's idea of where is perfect. It isn't reservation center where the new houses have been being built, so it's not the 'nicest' houses on the reservation. They aren't in the woods like here or Sam Uley's place, so they aren't being hidden away. A balanced area."

"If Bella and I could see the houses sometime soon that would be the best. She will have to return to school tomorrow, a whole week off this late in the year is going to put her behind enough as it is." Charlie posited to the room. "Will she be able to come to the Res schools before we live here or will that have to wait?"

"She has been welcome at the Reservation schools since September. Her connection to Paul, both before and especially after he marked and married her, allowed her more than she's been given." Joshua lowered his gaze in shame. That was partially his fault, too. "She can enter our school tomorrow, she will just need to get the proper paperwork from Forks High to come here."

"I'll have Bella do that tomorrow." Charlie nodded, refilling his mug once he tried to drink from the emptiness.

"And as far as seeing the houses, you forget who you're talking to." Joshua chuckled. "I work with our tourism, sure. But a big part of my job is also housing and construction projects around the Reservation- and both of those houses are owned by my office, the previous families sold them for the building of the event center and playground. We didn't need to use them so they weren't torn down. The keys are sitting in my office; so, if Bella comes around today I can show you them immediately. The faster we do this the better it is for our Pack."

"Why the rush, Uley?" Charlie's curiosity won out and he actually asked why the father of the Pack Alpha was trying to rush this process.

"Because the Pack are our protectors. And if the Cullens are back then more of their kind are sure to follow- especially with Bella here it seems. I for one would feel better if the one thing grounding our best fighter was on the reservation and well out of their hands." The reply was grim and singular- there was little more to say once those words had left Joshua's mouth.

"It's settled, then. Charlie Swan; by way of a majority vote and your knowledge of our secrets, you and your daughter Isabella Swan are welcome to move to our land and live with our People. Your daughter, through her Tribal Law marriage to Paul Lahote will be welcomed in the records of our People; and through her connection to the Pack is welcome to finish her schooling at our schools." Billy's voice was stern naturally but his face couldn't have been happier if he'd tried. Charlie would be moving to the reservation, and Bella would be safe. Those were things to celebrate.

"Hey Billy," A female voice broke the moment as the front door swung wide on its hinges. Leah entered with her arm around Bella. The former looked like she'd been the recipient of the front end of a truck and the latter looked like she was going to break at any moment. "Oh. Charlie, Mr. Uley, mom… nice to see all of you, are we interrupting?"

"Not at all, dear. Your coming is actually very fortunate, we were just discussing Bella." Sue smiled at her daughter and looked to the pale girl who seemed to be leaning against Leah. "Bella, do you have time this morning? I know it is early and you see very tired, but Joshua and your father have a little surprise for you and you would need to be there."

"Wha?" Bella looked up in surprise at the news from Sue. It was cryptic and weird, but not all that unwelcome. She needed something to calm her down, bring her back to earth. Something to ground her against the pain in her chest that seemed to grow with every passing second.

Paul had not come back yet.

"Are you up to a little trip, Bells? Won't take long." Charlie's eyes narrowed a little as he looked his daughter over. Something had happened to make her look like someone who just crawled out of their grave; and the only person he could think that had _that_ much power was Paul.

What had happened between the two of them?

"Sure, Char-dad." Bella gave a wry smile and extracted herself from Leah shakily. "Where we going?"

"You'll see, kiddo." Charlie smiled as he stood and grabbed his jacket, walking by Leah he gave a questioning glance to the young woman. Leah shook her head ever so slightly before giving Charlie a soft smile. Charlie turned to Bella and started talking to her as they left the house together. "So, Bella… I know we've been talking a lot lately about things going on and…"

The conversation faded as the door closed behind the father/daughter duo. Leah turned to her mother, Chief, and Joshua.

"What happened earlier, Leah, is there anything to report?" Billy was crisp with his words as Joshua gathered his things to leave.

"Many things, Billy. The Council will need to convene soon, the Pack must talk with them as soon as possible." Leah clasped her hands behind her back and prayed Billy wouldn't have any more questions.

"That can be arranged. What was the howling earlier? And why do you look like you fought with a real wolf?"

"Tussle with the Pack, Billy. It was nothing." Leah worried the inside of her lip as Billy Black looked her up and down. He wasn't fooled and she knew it.

"I expect to know why when we meet next. You can go, you need to shower. Try to avoid being seen in your condition- it would be hard to explain why you don't look like this tomorrow." Billy waved to the door in a dismissal and Leah couldn't have run faster from the house. Billy looked to Joshua and Sue with concern in his eyes. "Joshua, Sue; I hate to ask this of you but I need you to talk to your children. Seth may talk to you more, Sue- you're his mother, and he is young. And Sam may be hardened from the years but you are still his father, Joshua. For all your failures, he is not one of them, please try to figure out what is going on. The Pack cannot afford to be weak at a time like this."

The two Council members nodded before leaving in silence to do their respective tasks for the day. Billy was right, of course, but talking to a Spirit Wolf was easier said than done.

* * *

 _A/N: Hello my lovelies! Thank you **very** much for making it this far, especially since I know this chapter was rather long! (6.6k words!) I would like to warn you, this is going to be more normal for right now. The next few chapters are longer, in the 6-9k word range. I don't usually write so much but they are too hard to break apart and I don't want to overload chapter amounts- one longer chapter is better than 10 tiny ones!_

 _Anyway, I wanted to address something that was messaged to me yesterday about the timeline in the story. Thus far, I picked a date from the proper Twiverse timeline and ran with it. Below is the Chapter numbers and dates when those chapters happened. Many happened on the same day(s) because I broke them up to save my readers from a long chapter._

 _Chapter 24 happened on March 4 (Saturday)_

 _Chapters 25 - 41 take place over March 5th and 6th (Sunday and Monday)_

 _Chapter 42 – 45 takes place in Alaska 4 days later, on March 10th (Friday)_

 _Chapter 46 takes place on the 10th night and 11th morning (Saturday)_

 _Chapter 47 begins on the 11th (Saturday) but ENDS (with the Volturi part) on the 10th, a flashback._

 _Chapter 48 happens at midnight on the 11th and into the 12th (Sunday)_

 _This chapter and the next (50) will **also** take place on the 12th (Sunday) but then it will continue moving forward with the new school week and a new school, obviously. _

_I do have some disheartening news (in my opinion) however. My original hope to condense this story to a max of 60-65 chapters isn't gonna happen unfortunately. I kinda realized that when I ended it before there was still a **lot** of unresolved moments and also not enough clarity in the actual story itself as it ended. Therefore, this story will go beyond that cap and I do not know currently how many there will be once I am done. (I'm adding stuff I originally took out, adding new stuff, last minute edits)_

 _I sincerely hope y'all stick it out with me and love hearing from you and seeing what you like and dislike about my work. Thank you so much for being constructive (aside from many months ago) in your criticism and allowing me to grow as we journey together._


	50. Small Favors and Big Changes

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

"This wasn't a joke." Bella whispered as she and Charlie pulled up behind Joshua Uley to the front of two houses. They both looked like they hadn't been touched years, two according to the older Uley man. Bella thought both looked quaint and could already imagine living in either with Charlie while she finished school.

"Wouldn't joke about something this big, Bells." Charlie smiled at the back of Bella's head as he watched her look at the houses. The look on her face, the obvious imagination whirling in her mind, was something that the cop hadn't been sure he'd ever see again after the nightmares had begun.

"Let's go take a look at them, dad." Bella said as she turned to her father. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the distant smile on his face. "What?"

"Nothing, Bells, nothing." Charlie set the cruiser, his only car, to park and moved to get out. "Let's go take a look at them. Lord knows I'm going to miss the house in Forks."

"I have an idea about that, actually. Let me check into some things, okay dad?" Bella gave a sly smirk as an idea floated through her mind about the house in Forks. She knew someone who might agree with the plan, and fund it if she asked _very_ nicely.

"Whatever you say, Bella." Charlie shook his head and groaned as he got out of the cruiser. Joshua was already walking up to the front door of the smaller of the two houses. Even this one was larger than the house he'd owned now for years, though, and that thought was a bit of a blessing. Was there harm in a little more space?

"This particular house was built around twenty years ago, though it was updated by the previous owners. Your direct neighbors would be the Call residence to the north and the second empty residence to the south. To the west, beyond the center and daycare, is the sea. And to the east, the forest." Joshua gave them a quick rundown of the property as he unlocked the door and swept it open.

The outside of the house looked positively run to the ground but the inside was beautifully maintained and obviously still kept clean. The doorway opened to a great room that ran the length of the house, and Bella could already imagine a table and chairs at one end and the living room set and television at the other. Beyond it she could see the edge of the kitchen and what looked like an island.

"Can we go in?" Bella asked in anticipation. The pain in her chest all but forgotten as she imagined and planned in her mind's eye about the house she was looking at.

Joshua laughed at the excitement in Bella's voice and on her face. It hadn't fully covered the pain she was in but it was still light and life, something that both he and Charlie were glad to see- for completely different reasons but the point was there was still something there.

"Of course you can go in and look around. It's what you and Charlie are here to do, I would like it if _both_ of you looked around the house a little and checked it out. I can wait here in the entryway and wait to see what you think." Joshua ushered the two into the house and entered himself before shutting the door. "The electricity and water are both on. The heater, which is wood or pellet, is back behind the house and easily accessible even in winter. You're welcome to look around for a while, I'm in no rush."

Bella looked at Charlie with a wide smile before saying anything. "Why don't we look around? I like it already, but I know that this is going to be your house much longer than it is mine."

"Sounds like you expect me to kick you out once you graduate high school, Bells." Charlie chuckled as he walked behind Bella to the kitchen. It was much larger than he would ever need, the counter Bella had seen from the door was in fact an island. "Looks like you'd have plenty of space to cook."

And he was right. Everything had been upgraded as far as the appliances went. The range had six burners, four of them regular and one with one of those fancy grill or skillet top change outs. Charlie almost snorted at the ridiculousness, in his mind, of the kitchen. No one could honestly _need_ all of this.

"It is a beautiful kitchen. And you are right, I could most definitely cook in here. Think of all the cookies or brownies I could send with you to the station. Your coworkers would get fat." Bella joked with a giggle.

"Or you could give them to the boys. They eat enough for an army and I'm sure the sugary fat in your brownies would keep them going for hours." Charlie replied as they walked through the kitchen to the back door and three quarter bath at the rear of the house. There was a mudroom with laundry appliances in it as well.

"Not really, the way they burn through food and calories. Then again I bet Paul woul-" Bella stopped talking abruptly with a sharp intake of breath almost immediately after Paul's name fell from her lips. Just saying it tore the whole in her chest open once again and the pain started anew. Reaching for the back door with a wince she kept talking. "This looks like a beautiful backyard. Could certainly have Billy or even a certain _neighbor_ over every once in a while."

"Now just what are you implying there, Bella?" Charlie cocked his eyebrow at the quick transition and her tone of voice.

"Oh, nothing dad." Bella rolled her eyes ever so slightly as she spoke. "Just that it's blatantly obvious that you like Tiffany Call but you never want to do anything about it. I mean, how many times in the last few months have I caught you at her store for no reason? Or inviting her to dinner so she doesn't have to 'eat alone?' I mean, yes she eats alone a lot but seems like you've got a soft spot for her." Bella smiled wide as the skin near Charlie's ear began to redden.

"I don't need a wingman, Bella." Charlie's rough voice croaked out above the embarrassment. "And you aren't supposed to notice those things, kiddo. You're supposed to be a kid, have fun, make dumb mistakes. Not watch out for your old man's dating life."

"Oh, _dating life_? That's an interesting way to word it." Curiosity literally dripped from Bella's words. "Is that what you would call what you've been doing with Tiffany? Or are you leading up to it?"

"Easy, kiddo." Charlie pressed his fingers to the bride of his nose as he walked. "I don't know what we are, and when I figure it out you'll be the first to know."

"I better be second, dad. Tiffany should probably know before me."

With that the father and daughter fell into a comfortable silence as they explored the rest of the house. It was a typical American Craftsman house, like so many on the reservation. There were built in shelves in the great room near the kitchen, obviously meant for storing knickknacks or even 'finer' dining dishes. There was a fireplace in the other end of the main room, still functional and beautifully built. Charlie did have to admit he had a soft spot for houses like this because they seemed much more like a home than a manufactured cookie cutter with a roof.

This particular craftsman had a rare second story where the master bedroom and bathroom for the house was, and it was large enough that Charlie was pretty sure he could fit all of his _and_ Bella's bedroom furniture in it and still have enough space to move around in.

"This is nice, isn't it?" Bella commented as they walked through it. The bathroom had more updated fixtures and a beautiful soaking tub. Charlie wasn't one for taking a long bath often, but the itch sometimes did need to be scratched.

"It is." Charlie mumbled. "Doesn't it seem too big, though?"

"Dad, Joshua said this place was only like fifteen hundred square feet or something. That is only three hundred more than our house now, isn't it?" Bella shocked her father with her knowledge of such trivial things. Charlie nodded in silent appreciation. "Then it's not that much bigger and will be just fine."

The pair walked back down the stairs and explored the last two bedrooms and the Jack-and-Jill bathroom that sat behind and connected them. Bella found it odd the bathroom didn't have a public door, but considering the smaller three quarter near the kitchen it made a little bit more sense for sure.

Joshua leaned against the inner doorframe as the pair walked back up to him. Bella's face was again alight with imagination and planning as she obviously was thinking about where furniture would go and how to set the house up the best way. Charlie even looked impressed with the house and that was a big plus to the native man.

"What do you think?"

"Honestly, I think it's perfect." Bella responded almost too quickly. Charlie hesitated for a moment longer than his daughter before nodding in agreement.

"It is a nice house, and I can already see how much Bells here enjoys it. And it's got a nice kitchen, feels real roomy." Charlie seemed put-off by the size, a fact that made Joshua happy that he had chosen to show them the _smaller_ of the two houses first.

"Do you still want to see the other one?"

"Nope." Bella replied quicker than her father again. Charlie looked down at Bella and gave a sigh and a smile. Bella was obviously going to be happy here and he couldn't see one reason to not go for it- so what was there to stop them? "If I can ask, Joshua, how much is this one?"

"Well, it needs some repair if you didn't notice. There are places the drywall needs patching and the roof is going to need to be replaced within the year- this salty air is eating away at the one that was installed when it was built. Nothing too expensive, and it is move in ready even with those small things." Joshua mulled a number over in his mind. "How about somewhere in the one-fifteen to one-twenty range?"

"Hundred fifteen thousand?" Bella responded completely unperturbed. The wheels in her head continued to turn as she thought about ideas and ways to work that out.

"That would be acceptable. This house was sold to us for less, and it's not like it does the tribe or my office any good with it just sitting here." Joshua shrugged.

"No, that works well. Let me make some calls and I'll figure this out." Bella moved around Joshua and pulled out her cell to see if there was service on it, and nearly squealed when she saw that there were two bars. Enough to make a call. She opened the door and closed it behind her as she dialed the number that had been rolling through her mind ever since Charlie had mentioned moving to the reservation.

The phone rang only once before a melodic voice answered the other end.

"Bella?"

"Hey Rose…" Bella began as she walked to Charlie's cruiser for a little privacy. The heat in her chest flared as she spoke but Bella kept it down the best she could, no need for Rose to worry about her. Or kill Paul over it.

* * *

 _Run. Keep running._ Paul's mind had been carefully blocking out his brothers as he ran through the woods at the most northern point of the reservation. He desperately wanted to just leave and run to Canada and back but the damn imprint pull was already killing him at this distance- he wasn't sure he would even make it to Canada.

 **Sam:** _Paul, you need to come back. Leah just got back from leaving Bella with her father, and she's not looking too good man._

 **Paul:** _She was pretty clear earlier Sam. I've got two choices here; let her be a sacrifice to some fucking leeches and_ _ **let**_ _her put herself in their path or stay the fuck away. What do you think I'm doing?_

 **Sam:** _She never said anything about that, Paul. Now damn it, come back!_

 **Paul:** _Think about it, Sam. Would you be able to stand being near Emily if she had pulled what Bella just pulled? She essentially just told me in front of everyone, my own damn_ _ **Pack**_ _, that I don't have any say or control in my own life._

 **Sam:** _Usually I'd love to sit here and say that you're right and that all the bullshit you're currently spouting is right but I have to agree with Bella on this one. You tried to order her like a dog, excuse the expression, and not let her have any say in_ _ **her**_ _life. I don't like it either, just so you know. Do you think it was easy for_ _ **any**_ _of us to hear that vampire's suggestion? And then to hear her_ _ **agree**_ _with it? She's our imprint too, you know._

 **Paul:** _I know, Sam. But that doesn't make it any easier. I… I almost attacked her, Sam. I wanted to, so badly. To incapacitate my own_ _ **mate**_ _so that she couldn't, wouldn't, disagree with me in the future. I got so close to phasing and running off with her in my jaws to teach her a lesson she would never forget. What kind of monster does that fucking make me?!_

 **Sam:** _It makes you a man who happens to share his entire being with a territorial, dominant, and angry Spirit Wolf. It makes you the same man who loves Bella and who will, in time, learn to love her the best in her life- there will never be an equal to you as far as a bond goes. Your anger and your want to dominate your mate are natural things, Paul. It's animalistic and something that all of the boys are going to have to deal with when they find a woman to be with._

 **Paul:** _I refuse to believe you had these issues with Emily._

 **Sam:** _Believe it or not, I did. There are_ _ **still**_ _times that my wolf gets extra excited about the idea of having our mate submissive beneath us. That's your issue, Paul. You keep looking at it like Bella is only_ _ **your**_ _imprint, but you wouldn't even have an imprint without your wolf. And the two of you most definitely need to have a chat and work this shit out!_

Paul stopped running abruptly at those words. He had never really considered talking to his wolf before. How does one talk to an animal, even if you happen to share the same body as the animal? And sure, wolves weren't stupid creatures by any means- they were intelligent and deadly animals. But how the hell was he supposed to have a _conversation_ with his wolf?

 **Sam:** _I have to go now, there is other news from Leah- something about the Council. If you choose to not come back, that is up to you. But think about it Paul. Bella is hurting with you gone and I know that the edge will go away if you at least come to where you can see her- even if you don't let her see you._

 **Paul:** _I'll think about it, Sam. No promises because right now I still want to rip her off her fucking feet and drag her into the woods._

 **Sam:** _That will pass, Paul._

 **Paul:** _Sure it will._

Paul noticed the emptiness in his mind the moment Sam phased back to human form. There was blessed silence in his mind again, something that he cherished at the current moment more than he ever had before. He had been truthful to Sam when he talked about what he wanted to do, about how close he had gotten to systematically breaking Bella's legs from the tarsals up.

Great Spirits, he had actually thought about breaking his own imprint's feet bones to stop her from leaving him. To teach her to respect him, to submit to him. He almost became the monster that he had once promised himself he would never become.

How was he supposed to be okay with this?! How was he supposed to just have some happy go lucky conversation with a damn _animal_ in his head and expect it to answer in anything more than an angry growl or two?!

Being a wolf was sometimes the worst thing he had ever experienced; now especially.

Paul began to pace again around the trees to attempt to relax. It didn't help.

Walking up to the shores of the Quillayute River for a drink he stopped when he saw the face looking back at him. It was his face, or at least his wolf's face. The snout and human eyes above it looked back at him in the rippling water.

 **Paul:** _I didn't ask for this. None of us did. Why did those stupid fucking leech Cullens have to come back here? Why did I have to give up the rest of my life to this place? I had plans, to get out and see the world. Yea, I wanted to come back to raise a family but that wasn't for_ _ **years**_ _._

Paul growled and slapped his paw against the water to distort his image before leaning down to drink from it. The river was cool and refreshing, a stark contrast to the rest of his reality.

 **Wolf:** _You were chosen for your blood, your strength._

 **Paul:** _What the fuck?!_

Losing his balance for the first time in wolf form since his original phase was a weird feeling for Paul. Ending up face-first in the river and now soaking wet was another even more disturbing feeling.

 **Wolf:** _Did you really think that I couldn't hear you? That I don't know how you feel about our shared body?_

 **Paul:** _Not going to lie, I kinda figured you were just some dumb dog._

 **Wolf:** _Spirit Wolf somehow didn't warn you that we aren't just dumb animals? Your forefathers were proud to be Protectors of their People and Tribe. They happily accepted us and did not fight against our shared bodies. Your ancestors learned to live while keeping their wolves directly beneath the surface of their skin. They adopted some of our powers in their natural skin. Now you fight us. Now you hate us._

Groaning in his mind and climbing out of the river with indignation, Paul took a moment to respond to the wolf in his mind. He shook his thick coat out twice before even considering saying anything back. Nothing like making the other person in a conversation wait for you, especially when you don't know what to say.

 **Paul:** _Back then things were easier. The world seemed smaller, there wasn't as much to do or places to go. Education stopped at hunting and making babies- furthering the Tribe. Now you're as much of a curse as a gift because we can't leave the Land as long as you are with us._

 **Wolf:** _We are always with you, whether or not we are needed or you have accepted our presence. In times of need the wolf, my kind, can force our way in to protect the People but in generations past only the best warriors were even worthy of trying to connect with one of us. Time isn't something I know well, but it has changed for me as well as you._

 **Paul:** _You talk like you knew our older generations._

 **Wolf:** _Our Spirits are passed down through the bloodlines, we travel through the generations of your kind. I was bound to you at birth, Paul Lahote. Just as I was bound to your father and his father before him. Very rarely do we connect with females of your kind, though it is not unheard of. Your Pack member Leah is the first to be able to withstand the wolf's connection, so she is the first to become a Protector like yourself._

 **Paul:** _Wait. So, you're saying you've_ _ **always**_ _been in my head?_

 **Wolf:** _Not to this extent, but yes. I was bound to you at birth, Paul Cheveyo Lahote. Have you never thought about your own name? The clue was right there._

The wolf chuckled in their shared head, which made Paul clench his eyes and draw his lips above his teeth in a growling grimace. The sound was so _wrong_ sounding.

 **Paul:** _What are you talking about, Wolf?_

 **Wolf:** _Your second name, the name your father whispered in your ear as a newborn. He passed you to me with that name, for it is mine. Cheveyo, a spirit warrior. When I lived in my own body with my own kind, back when this land was new and your People had not even settled here- that was my name. The Spirits gave it to me when they created me, and it has been my name since._

 **Paul:** _You were alive once? What the hell are you talking about that you have a name?_

 **Cheveyo:** _It's exactly as I said, Brother. I was passed to you through my name, the same one that the Great Spirits gave me. It was what your people would call a coincidence, usually the Spirits choose your wolf guide. But you happened to have a father who wished to pass down a name, and in doing so passed down a wolf as well._

 **Paul:** _Not that this conversation hasn't been_ _ **riveting**_ _and all but I would much like you to go away. Cheveyo, Wolf, whatever your name is. I am_ _ **stuck**_ _like this because of you, because of those stupid leeches, because of Bella!_

 **Cheveyo:** _Do not blame your mate for this!_

The sudden animosity in his own mind caused Paul to stop for a moment. It was almost like having a whole wolf pack in his ears with the growling howls that Cheveyo was emitting in the silence. The feeling of his skin crawling had never been more real as he seemed to vibrate from the shared anger that poured from his fur.

 **Paul:** _If it weren't for her those leeches would have been long gone. They were getting too "old" for their looks, I can remember hearing Billy talk about it once. But Bella had to come to town and she had to be her stupid accepting self and try to_ _ **befriend**_ _them. And then she fell in_ _ **love**_ _with one of them. He should have fucking ate her that night in the woods. Then the Cullens would have never come back, the stupid 'royal' vampires wouldn't be on their way, and I could fucking get_ _ **rid**_ _of you._

 **Cheveyo:** _ **You will**_ _ **never**_ _ **be rid of me. We are one in the same, two spirits sharing one body. There is no distinction on where you end and I begin beside from in our mind.**_ _Our mind. Our body. We are one being, you and I. Whether or not the cold ones left, I would still be here._

 **Paul:** _Whatever. If Bella wasn't here, if I hadn't imprinted on her… Sam told us that if we stop the phasing and learn to accept our wolves and stay human then we would be free of being a Protector. But I can't_ _ **do**_ _that now._

 **Cheveyo:** _Blaming our imprint is not going to stop what has happened, Paul. And neither will it change the fact that she is not responsible for them. You may hate me and my presence but how can you stand to say such things about your imprint. Weren't you just angry at yourself for wanting to attack her? Weren't you out here running because you wanted her to submit to you, because you wanted to dominate her and control her?_

 **Paul:** _ **I don't care!**_ _I fucking hate this, I fucking hate_ _ **you**_ _. Bella deserves better than an anger management drop out of a shape shifting wolf for a mate. She deserves someone who would pull the moon down for her, someone who could move mountains at a mere nod to make her happy. She is good and kind, loving and accepting. She never once blinked at what I was, and yet today she was actually_ _ **afraid**_ _of me. Of_ _ **you**_ _. You were howling so damn loud in my head I could barely think, and she walked away from us. Couldn't you smell it? Those wide eyes weren't attraction you, stupid animal! She was_ _ **afraid**_ _. Do you hear me?! She. Was. Afraid._

 **Cheveyo:** _And that hurts my heart as much as it does yours, Brother. She is my mate, my imprint, as much as she is yours. She is ours. Our bond with her is not broken, she has not rejected us- me or you. Can't you feel it? The pull to her, the pull from her. The need that goes to our bones?_

 **Paul:** _I am not going back. Not until I can_ _ **control**_ _you. Not until I won't hurt her. I've done enough- and this is one thing I can do to make it better._

 **Cheveyo:** _I will fight you every moment we are away from her. Every moment we share this body- I am going to fight you for her._

 **Paul:** _If you want a fight, Wolf, then I'm happy to give one to you._

Paul growled physically as Cheveyo howled in their collective mind. A thought probed in the barest part of Paul's thoughts, back into one of the only parts of him that was still slightly even human. He found himself wondering if the rest of the Pack could hear him talking to his Wolf. If any of his Brothers were phased in, had they just heard that? And if they had- did they also hear the Wolf?

* * *

"Thank you so much, Rose." Bella said with nearly uncapped glee as she finished up her conversation in Charlie's cruiser.

" _Emmett would have said yes if you'd called him."_ Rose laughed, something that Bella couldn't remember her really doing before. Rose had change, or she trusted Bella more. She wasn't sure. _"You sound super tense too, Bella. Is there something wrong?"_

"Just issues with Paul, no big deal." Bella dismissed the pain in her chest the best she could. It had grown like a roaring fire and she felt like dying- but finishing this deal was more important.

" _Emmett and Jasper will contact this Joshua Uley tomorrow- you said he knows of us and the Pack right? Would make things a breeze if we don't have to pretend."_ Bella could almost see Rose rolling her eyes at the idea of pretenses.

"He knows. And thank you again, I owe you so much right now."

" _No, you don't. But we'll talk about that at another time- I must go and prepare the boys for tomorrow. Plus, Esme wanted to talk and bond again, she feels distanced from her 'children' and it's breaking her heart."_ Rose's voice sounded sympathetic and yet annoyed. Bella didn't think that she didn't want to spend time with Esme, it was probably more having to get the boys to agree on this and actually act like adults when they did it. Jasper and Emmett could be childish when together.

"I promise to come see you on Wednesday after school then, okay? Jasper and I are going to need to setup meetings for training and I am going to need so much help to catch up on school if I want to pass. Graduating late would probably not impress Charlie much." Bella sighed as the thought of all the work she was going to have to catch up on. She wasn't _that_ far behind really, but this was just so late in the game to have to move schools and finalize graduation credits. She was living an educational nightmare now.

" _We've got you baby Bella!"_ Emmett's voice boomed in the background of the phone call. His intrusion forced a laugh out of the human girl and even Rose gave a small chuckle. _"I've graduated_ _ **plenty**_ _of times. I can tutor you until you drop!"_

" _Maybe not that much, Emmett. I will pick you up from school on Wednesday Bella. I look forward to seeing you and I know that Jasper will be just as excited. He wants to build this new relationship between us and the do-Pack. He thinks this is a beneficial thing."_ Rose slipped for a moment before getting her mouth in gear. Bella did not miss it but did notice how quickly, and sincerely, she had changed her wording.

"Alright. I will let Joshua know to expect your call." Bella replied with a hurried goodbye to Emmett before she ended the call. Charlie and Joshua had walked out of the house and seemed to be deep in some important looking discussion. Leaving the cruiser in a rush to catch them and let her father know the news, she began to hear their conversation.

"Going to have to sell the house in Forks. I don't want to, it's been my home for so long and I'm attached to it. But… this is best for Bella, and I think getting out of Forks for a little while will help me too- like it or not I'm not the safest Chief of Police right now." Charlie's face was so crestfallen at the idea of selling his home.

"That gun will do very little against the cold ones, or our boys. They're sturdy that's for sure." Joshua's laugh was almost melodic. Bella could see why he oversaw things like tourism, events, and dealing with people in general. He had charisma. "I think I can help you find a good realtor to get that house sol-"

"We're not selling the house in Forks, Charlie. No need to worry about that." Bella interrupted as she came to stand beside her father. "Um… Mr. Uley, Joshua?" Bella stumbled as she tried to find the right thing to call Sam's dad- they didn't have much of an acquaintanceship so titles were iffy at best. "Please expect a call tomorrow around noon from a Mr. Jasper Whitlock-Hale or a Mr. Emmett Hale. They will figure it all out with you as far as getting the funding for the house by the end of the week at the very latest."

"Jasper or Emmett… Are you talking about the Cullen boys?" Charlie turned in surprise to his daughter. He didn't know just who Bella had called but he had never expected her to call _them_. "Why would they help us buy a house here on the Reservation?"

Bella shrugged and nervously pulled some of her hair behind her ear. "I remember hearing Jasper talk the other day about how his family owed me more than they could ever give- but they could certainly try. Alice was constantly trying to buy me things before, and even Emmett wanted to spoil his 'baby Bella,' but I would never let him."

"But why are they paying for the house?"

"Because I told them that this was something I wanted." Bella replied plainly. "Jasper and Alice were the only two in the family who kept contacts for things like investments and whatnot. Alice disappeared with a lot of it according to Rosalie- but Edward's share is still there untouched. Jasper is going to use _Edward's_ money to do this. He thinks it's some weird of poetic justice."

"He owes you more than a house." Charlie mumbled before looking at his daughter with a small smile. "So, what are we going to do with the house in Forks then?"

"I need to talk to you and Sam about that. We can figure that out later, Charlie." Bella turned to an open-mouthed Joshua. He seemed at a loss for words, something that Bella was pretty sure he didn't experience often. "They have agreed to pay for the house in my father's name, it will still be titled to Charlie for him to do with what he wishes. They're just supplying the money for it- and will work out the taxes and everything with you tomorrow. I explained a call would be easier, given how everything is."

"Good." Joshua nodded and kept thinking about things. He turned to Charlie with interest in his eyes. "I think it would be best if you and Bella still stayed here tonight if possible. Otherwise you're going to end up with half the Pack in that tiny house of yours in Forks."

"A couple extra mouths and bodies won't hurt a thing, Uley." Charlie reached out to shake Joshua's hand in a friendly way. "Keeps Bella safe and they might help out tomorrow when we go to get her transferred over to the school here. Might ask Sam if he won't join me for that…"

"I need to see him anyway, dad. My truck is at his house remember?" Bella interjected and turned to walk away. She turned back around and gave Joshua an awkward nod. "Thank you for everything, and for being okay with working with Jasper or Emmett."

"No problem, little sister. You're part of my People now- like family." Joshua flashed a charismatically wide smile that almost made Bella roll her eyes. He was a nice enough guy, for sure, but his almost slimy demeanor was a little off-putting. Bella decided against being rude and just nodded again before walking back to the cruiser and getting in.

Her chest was worse than on fire now, it was crushing. Crushing and hot. Like being inside a volcano while it prepares to erupt. The pain was beginning to spread too, her head was starting to hurt too.

* * *

Sam's house was literally crawling with tension as Emily tried to make tea and sandwiches for her Pack family. The native woman noticed the cuts and bruises on all of them, worse on Leah and Seth than any of the more seasoned wolves. She said nothing, questioned nothing, and more importantly stayed out of the way as they all steamed and paced.

The only thing that was eating away at Emily was the fact that their number was short by two. Bella wasn't here to help calm the Pack, and Emily knew that having her around would help all of them. Sam was almost plastered to her side to seek comfort from Emily herself, so it made the woman wonder how much calmer the others might be if Bella was there for them.

Paul was also missing. And no one would say where he was. Or when he was coming back.

"Sam," Emily's soft voice prodded her mate questioningly. The Alpha looked at his imprint with a pleading look in his stressed and stretched eyes. "I'm ready to move this to the table, and I can't do that with your arms around me."

"I can move them, Em." Sam gave his love a quick kiss on the side of her mouth before grabbing the two trays of sandwiches. He came back for the mugs and water for tea, coffee was in its own pot and was already on the table.

He whistled sharply to get the rest of his Pack's attention. Slowly they came to the table, no one seemed to be moving fast or gracefully. They were all sluggish, slow, and seemed to be straight fatigued. Leah was showing signs of a limp as the injuries on her legs began to heal. It was slow going, Sam could see that, but she was handling it with strength.

"Any luck?" Embry asked as Jared walked inside. Jared had been sitting in the woods in wolf form hoping to talk Paul into coming back to them. Jared shook his head grimly as he moved to take a seat around the table. "Did he even talk to you?"

"Not at all." Jared sighed as he slumped onto the table. "I heard him for a minute or so, but then his thoughts just disappeared. "It was weird. One moment he was there, then he was gone."

"Did he phase out?" Sam asked a little too sharply, intruiged that Paul's thoughts had not been found in the link.

"Nope. I could still feel him there in my own mind, and I think if he had really looked or tried to listen he would have heard me… His thoughts were just… gone." The Pack remained silent, thinking. The silence stretched, no one seemed to want to break it.

"What was the last thing you heard from him?" Jake asked finally. Everyone seemed to release a held breath at the words. No one had wanted to talk but the silence was getting uncomfortable.

"The last thing I heard was him wondering why the Cullens came at all. Why did he have to be stuck like this. He seemed really torn up and angry." Jared mumbled softly. He felt almost like he was betraying Paul by telling the Pack what he had been thinking. All of them had experienced such thoughts, especially as the reality of not being able to leave the reservation to go to school or build a life cam crashing down in the dark of sleepless nights.

"He's having a hard time, guys." Emily spoke for what felt like the first time ever at a wolf pack table meeting. She usually hid in the kitchen but was now leaning against the counter and looking at all of them with gently crossed arms. "Think about it. Haven't all of you felt that way? Didn't each of you have plans, wants, or dreams? I'm going to bet you did- and I'm also willing to bet that _none_ of you wanted to stay here and not go out and experience life."

"But he's never been like this about it." Embry replied with what seemed like a bit of whiny shock in his voice. "Paul has always been the most solid out of us. The most accepted to this life."

"There's a difference between being _good_ at something and being accustomed to it or even wanting it." Emily picked up her tea and took a sip. All eyes were on her and she felt the need to continue talking, trying her best to help. "Paul has experienced a lot over these past months. In September, he got an imprint, one that _all_ of you have imprinted on. Different way, sure, but he still must share his imprint with his whole Pack." Another pause as Emily took another drink from her cup. "Then his own Tribal Council tells him that he cannot pursue his own imprint, he has to wait. That she is a liability and a danger to him and his Pack. His imprint, the woman who his own _wolf_ says is the perfect match to their souls."

"That would suck…" Quill mumbled into his drink. "I don't know what I would do if that happened."

"None of you do. Sam and Paul are the only two wolves who we know for sure have imprinted in such a way, and we've already seen the damage an imprint can cause." Emily cast a quick glance to her cousin, tears forming in her eyes. "Now Paul has sealed the mark and bond with Bella, he has married her under Tribal law and bound them for the rest of their lives. He will never be able to truly find happiness in the arms of another, Bella will feel the same. They can't have children with anyone but each other. That is a lot of responsibility too." Emily sighed and looked over her family. It was rag tag and worn down, but it was _hers._ Just like Paul and Bella were too. "Then there's last night. Sam told me a little of what happened, and you all talk loudly when you're wound up. Bella _volunteered_ herself to be bait, _volunteered_ herself to stand between the cold ones who want her dead and those who would protect her. Not only did she do that, but she walked away. Walked away and told Paul, and his wolf, that this was _her_ choice- that he had no say or control."

"Fuck, man." Jared interrupted accidently, his eyes wide as the implications of Emily's words hit him like a truck to the chest. "It isn't just that, too. Bella was afraid of him. She backed away first. Couldn't anyone else smell it? She was afraid as she walked away, afraid when he came at her."

"So not only did his imprint tell him that he wasn't _allowed_ to protect her… but she also ran away. Whether or not she actually ran doesn't matter. Think about it for half a second- would any of _your_ wolves react well if Bella was scared of _you_ and then left before you could fix that?" Emily was being as plain as she could be without making the Pack feel like children.

"Shit guys." Embry sounded breathless as he talked. "We are so fucked."

"I need a real drink." Leah stood and turned as if to leave.

"No good, Leah." Jake replied with sympathy. "It would take a couple bottles minimum to get buzzed. Drunk is pretty out of the question."

"Damn it." Leah sank back onto the bench seat with her back to the table. Looking out the door her eyes perked up and she smiled as she watched a familiar cruiser pull up with two people in it. "Hey guys, look."

The Pack all craned to see the car that was pulling up towards the house. The very air in the room seemed to lighten and become less compressed at the mere sight of Bella. She was talking to her father in the car with an animated air, her smile warming the wolves in a way that even Sam and Jared found almost weird.

"Bella." Leah sighed with a smile as she almost ran from the door, Jake and Embry were on her ankles in a split second. The rest of the Pack and Emily left the house in a slower way, but they still came to stand out on the porch as Charlie parked.

Leah reached Bella's door before the cruiser was even off, and had the door open the moment Charlie took the keys out of the ignition. The native woman didn't fully understand the need that was pulling at her, but she _needed_ Bella. Not sexually, not even close, but she needed to be close to Bella. Touching if she could. There was something itching under her skin, all of the Pack's skin… they needed Bella. Charlie be damned at the current moment.

"What?" Bella's words were cut off as hands removed her from the seat of the car. They unbuckled her with rushed fingers and lifted her in such a way that she almost felt like she was floating. Charlie made a noise as if to stop whatever was happening but a quick hand wave from her stopped him. Emily had walked forward to greet the Chief of Police while the rest of the Pack, Sam included, got the moment they needed.

Not for the first, or the last, time Emily was grateful that their house was one of the most secluded on the entire reservation. People seeing this would probably wonder what was wrong with this group of 'steroid popping' teens.

"How about I get you something to drink, Charlie." Emily gave a soft smile and extender her hand. "I don't know if you remember me, I'm Emily. I have coffee, tea, or water inside. And I think the boys even managed _not_ to eat all of the sandwiches if you're hungry."

"Coffee, please." Charlie replied as he allowed Emily to lead him into the house. Taking one last glance back to where the entire Pack seemed to be crushing Bella between them in a group embrace.

The wolves stood in Sam's yard for what felt like hours and just held each other. It was a comforting embrace as it mingled their collective heat and bodies and scent. Something that would have felt so wrong as 'normal' humans now seemed like an instinct. The contact seemed to dissipate the coiled tension in their bodies, the scents allowed the wolves to _breath_ again, and the heat from the touch gave Bella a counter to the painful heat that had been swallowing her chest whole for hours now.

"I have a plan, guys. We need to go inside and talk." Bella finally said as everyone began to back away and unpack from around her. "And I have news, if Leah hasn't told you yet." 

* * *

_A/N: Welcome back and hello dear readers! It is, as usual, so nice to know that you've made it this far with me and I hope very much that you have enjoyed the ride thus far. I know that this was a **lot** of cuts and jumping around but I just didn't feel right making this into two chapters and I wanted to keep it as singular and cohesive as possible- so here it is!  
_

 _Now, before anyone get's riled I would like to address the naming of the Wolf and my addition to SM's world with this idea. Yes, I did borrow Cheveyo from another Native culture (it is technically a Hopi name I do believe) but I did make sure to keep it Native American so as not to bring in confusion. I did find **multiple** names with the meaning I wanted but ultimately stuck with the Native one. Yes this is a new thing to the world (not to FanFiction of it, but I digress) and I know that I am stretching the 'fantasy' part of this but I am trying to do so in a wholly respectful way and want everyone to know that I in no way am trying to pretend to know the Quileute legends or people personally to any great extent. I am just very good at research and have had a **lot** of time on my hands recently._

 _Thank you all for reading and I will update again tomorrow. Just a warning, there will be a time jump (I'll make sure to include a date **somewhere** to give a timeline) and it will be a little longer even than these last two (both at 7-7.5k respectively in words) so I hope I don't bore any of you. Now, why am I telling you this? Because the next chapter will have another **SMUT** scene involved. It will be fully skippable and I will make sure to include some sort of warning just prior so that people who aren't into that sort of thing can move past it._

 _Till I write again!_


	51. Bandages Over Gunshot Wounds

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

The next three weeks had seemed to fly by and drag on at the same time. School was going well, the Whitlock-Hale family still steadily helping Bella get ahead in things. Emmett had even helped her out with some extra credit when she had transferred, her grades were the best they'd ever been. Rosalie hadn't pushed the Paul issue- she seemed to know that Bella would tell her about them eventually. And Jasper was in full soldier command mode everywhere but the house; he was a complete gentleman at the house.

Bella and Charlie had started and finished moving into their new home in about three days with the help of the Pack. Embry had nearly _crowed_ when he knew that Bella would be his neighbor, and then he instantly groaned when he realized that being her neighbor also meant he was the closest when it came down to 'Bella sitting' time. Not that any of the Pack really _minded_ doing it- she was family, she was their imprint, and she needed them.

The Pack had tried their best to get Paul to come home, for Bella if anything else. He refused. And continued to refuse, breaking even Alpha orders to avoid coming home or telling them where he was. From scent trails, it was obvious he wasn't in their territory anymore- or if he was he had managed to learn how to hide those kinds of markings well enough to keep them off his tail.

It was another rainy day in Forks and Bella was sitting squarely in the Cullen house. Bella wasn't sure who's house it really was, actually. Emmett and Rose had their own house in the woods not overly far away and Jasper said they stayed there quite often. He preferred to remain in the main house with Carlisle and Esme- the pair had not decided yet if they were going to join Jasper's coven in the eyes of the wolves or not.

Not that it mattered, without Paul and with the Pack in the shape they were in because of it… there had been no more meetings between the vampires and the wolves.

"What's got you thinking so hard today, Bella?" Rosalie asked finally after repeating something to the girl three times in a row. When Bella continued to stare into the forest, crying silently. The girl turned to look at Rose with wet eyes and it made the vampire's heart break a little. "Bella, you're crying."

"What?" Bella instantly straightened and rubbed the tears from her cheeks. It seemed to shock her that she was crying, something that intrigued Rosalie and Emmett who was sitting in the background pretending not to hear. "Oh, I'm sorry. You were talking to me, weren't you? I honestly didn't hear any of it."

Rosalie gave a soft smile and moved to sit across from Bella on the window seat the girl had perched on like a bird. She gently reached out a pale hand and wiped away a couple of the tears Bella had missed. The silence between them said so much more than any words ever could.

"What happened, Bella?" Rosalie whispered, her honey colored eyes catching Bella's darker brown ones.

"I messed up, Rose." Bella's dam broke as she talked, her breathing hitched and the tears began to flow freely now. Rose could hear her family moving in the background- everyone was coming closer to listen. Vampires were nothing if not at least a little nosy. "I m-m-messed up so b-badly."

"It can't be that bad, Bella." Rose reached into her shirt and pulled out a handkerchief. Thankfully it was a habit she'd never grown out of because in a house of people who didn't have bodily functions things like tissues didn't exist. Wiping more of Bella's tears away Rose spoke again. "What happened that makes you think you messed up?"

It was a different feeling for Bella. Rosalie was being almost motherly to her, gentle at the very least. Emmett was astounded as he watched his wife be more openly empathetic than he'd ever seen her in their years together. Not that Rosalie was a bad person, because she honestly wasn't, it was more she'd never been able to connect with anyone on that level before. It was good to see.

"It all s-started after the meet-ting a couple weeks ago…" Bella began to stutter and cry her way through the whole story for Rosalie.

She talked about how after the meeting Jasper had made a suggestion to the Pack that none of them agreed with very much- to train Bella's power so that she could at least _look_ like she wasn't completely defenseless when the Volturi decided to come knocking with their first scouts. Rosalie nodded in agreement but Bella couldn't figure out if she was agreeing with the Pack or with Bella's choice to stand her ground and still train.

Bella talked about how the Pack was strained because Paul had gone berserk that day and it seemed like he'd even nearly attacked _her_ before she walked away from him. She talked about how afraid she had been of Paul and his wolf because of how angry he had been, hanging her head in shame when she admitted that she had told him that he had no say in what she did or where she went. Their bond be damned, Bella had thought.

Finally, it seemed, Bella's voice began to strengthen back up and she stopped stuttering every other word out when she spoke. She was in the middle of telling Rose about how the Pack seemed almost _angry_ at Bella for her weekend trips to the treaty line with Emmett and Jasper for training. She told Rose about how they seemed to be short with her after those sessions, almost angry that she would come back from the woods exhausted and barely able to stand.

"Isn't me training whatever this is a _good_ thing?" Bella asked finally as she seemed to run out of steam and slow down. "I'm a sitting meal for anyone who can get close enough, and Emmett still gets pretty close before I can get it to work- closer if I'm not already touching the earth in some way. Why is it such a bad thing that I don't feel like being helpless and letting everyone else fight for me?"

"Because your Pack loves you, Bella Swan." Rosalie spoke for the first time since Bella had broken down into tears. "And you are being incredibly narrow minded about the situation if you think they're _angry_ with you for training with Jasper and Emmett."

"What are you talking about Rose?" Bella's eyebrows furrowed as she tried to understand.

"Your Pack is your family, yes? And they have already made it completely clear that they are willing to kill every vampire in the state of Washington at any given time to protect you. Right?" Bella nodded to both questions instead of speaking. "Then why is it so hard to see the truth? They aren't angry Bella, not with you anyway. They are _scared_ , they care and they are _terrified_ for you. What happens when you use up whatever power you're using to block Emmett? What happens if you get injured in the presence of two _vampires_? Vegetarians or not, Bella, we still drink blood. And you're still kind of clumsy."

"Why would they be scared? I'm eighteen, I'm an adult." Bella replied in a soft voice, looking down from Rose's eyes. The vampire sighed and pressed two fingers to the bridge of her nose in exasperation.

"Because they love you, baby Bella." Emmett said from where he was sitting across the room. "And you're not letting them protect you. You told them to stay out of your way and let _you_ protect you. Except, that's not going to work as well as you think. And they know it."

"What are you talking about Emmett?" Bella asked, and then upon realizing he had been listening she chastised him. "And why are you eavesdropping?!"

"I could hear this conversation for nearly a quarter mile of you were outside." Emmett replied with a straight face. "And you're playing dumb now, Bella. You know what I'm talking about. Yes, you've gotten quicker with your gift but I still get into biting or killing range more often than not before you can repel me. And you _still_ faint or go unsteady once you've managed to repel me. What are you going to do when it's more than one?"

"I've been getting better…" Bella trailed off. She knew they were right, knew it down to her bones and she still didn't want to admit the truth. She was vulnerable, she was still a damsel in distress, she still needed protection. She _couldn't_ do this on her own.

Except the one person she wanted in the whole world had left her behind. And taken pieces of her with him.

"Better or not, Bells, you're still going to lose that fight if it came to it." Emmett came over and gave his little sister a big bracing hug, lifting her off the cushions to do so. "And what do you think that would do to them? Or us even? If any of us failed to protect you to the point it killed you… I'm sure it would kill any of us too."

Bella thought about that as Emmett put her down and walked away. She turned back to looking out the window after giving Rose a contemplative smile. She wasn't crying anymore- something Rose was happy to see.

"I'm going to go make you some tea, okay?" Rose pat Bella's shoulder as she stood to go to the kitchen. They had started keeping it stocked with a few things like tea and snacks. They never ate or used them but Bella did, and they wanted Bella to feel comfortable with them. Rose learned quickly, too, about how Bella liked her tea and could now make it better than Bella could herself.

There was silence for a few minutes after Rose walked away, and Bella found herself comfortable in it as she thought about what Rose and Emmett had said. Were they right? Had Bella been narrow minded and a little selfish, if she was being honest? The answer was yes- a resoundingly loud and huge yes. Bella hadn't even considered how the wolves would feel, just that they were trying to keep her from being able to protect herself.

She hadn't thought about what _Paul_ would feel, how it would effect him… She had focused so hard on the fact that he had tried to command her to stay helpless. Oh God, how much damage had she done?

"You've got more emotions going on right now than even I can handle, Bella." Jasper's soft voice broke into Bella's thoughts with an even softer chuckle. He sat down where Rose had been and looked at Bella's pale and diminished form.

She had been losing weight and was constantly in pain. Jasper had tried to help with that when she was around him but it was a losing battle for the vampire. He could manipulate emotions and even emotional pain but he couldn't remove them, and he certainly couldn't do much for the pain caused by a bond like her and Paul's.

Bandages over gunshot wounds.

"The downside to being human, I guess." Bella shrugged as she pulled her knees to her chest and rest her chin on them. Jasper was kind, something Bella had somehow managed to miss in the entire time she'd been with Edward.

"Not a downside, Bella. It's what makes you human and it's what makes you so much stronger than my kind in a way." Jasper looked at Bella with sad eyes. "You're in a lot of pain, Bella. I can _feel_ it through you. And you've been losing weight. Has he not come back at all since the meeting?"

"No, he hasn't." Bella began to cry again as she hid the tears from Jasper.

"You need to help yourself then Bella. If he isn't going to come back when there is no way in hell he isn't feeling this too…" Jasper trailed off as he thought and tried to mull over something to help the heartbroken girl in front of him. "Have you been to his house since he left? Or to any place that was just 'yours' together, if you had one?"

"Why would I? All it would do is make it worse…" Bella looked up at Jasper in tear filled confusion mixed with a little bit of incredulity.

"That's the point, Bella. He can feel this too- I know he can. I've been around the two of you long enough to see that what one feels the other can feel a muted version of it. If you're in this much pain, well then I'd hate to think what he's going through. If you can make it _worse_ , shock him back into a bit of reality… he might come back." Jasper was ever the logical man, something that made Bella smile sadly.

"If he hasn't come back yet… I don't think he ever will."

"You don't know that. And I'm being serious. It's a Friday, you have the whole weekend ahead of you now to be able to handle whatever happens when he comes back. We can cancel your training this weekend. It does you no good to train when you're draining yourself doing it, Bella." Jasper reached forward and rest his hand on Bella's cheek, running his thumb on the bone beneath her eye. "Think about it, alright darlin? You need to heal and so does he. And y'all can't heal without each other."

"Yea, and if he _does_ come back you can always just fuck him into the ground." Emmett said with a guffaw as he and Rose came back into the room. The crack as she smacked him in the back of the head sounded like a bullet. He didn't even flinch. "Ow, hey! Rose you _know_ I'm right. How many times have you and I managed to climb out of ruts with some really good love making?"

"Emmett, unless you want to be piecing yourself back together will you _please_ be quiet?" Rose's voice was playfully venomous but no less serious as she spoke to her husband. Turning to Bella and handing the girl a mug of tea, Rose gave a smile. "Jasper has a good point, Bella, you _should_ go and face whatever place you two had. Whether it is his house or somewhere else that could be considered special. Somewhere that you're going to have to confront these feelings in. Can you think of anywhere?"

"Yea… I can." Bella trailed away while taking a drink of the tea. It was beautifully made as always, and comfortingly warm. A clock somewhere in the house began to chime the time, 5 o'clock. It was time for Bella to be heading home, the wolves would worry if she was _too_ late.

Plus Charlie had invited Tiffany and Embry to dinner at 7 and she still needed to throw the premade chicken parmesan into the oven and make the sides for it.

"Ready to go?" Jasper asked as he stood and held out a hand. Bella took it graciously and stood with a small groan. The house was furnished lavishly and with very comfortable pieces but sitting in almost the exact same position for as long as she had was still enough to stiffen the body.

"Let's get me home before the wolf pack descends." She joked with a real laugh, it was good for all of the vampires to hear.

Jasper and Bella both gave their goodbyes as they walked out the doors. Bella always made sure to say goodbye to Carlisle and Esme as well, both had begun to warm back up and be less inside themselves. It was nice to see even if Bella hadn't fully forgiven them for not only dangling her in front of Edward but then abandoning her at the drop of his hat.

* * *

Not even twenty minutes later and Jasper found himself praising his negotiating prowess once again as the car he'd borrowed from Rose crossed the treaty line. There was a wolf running alongside the car, just barely in the trees, but he had still managed to negotiate the ability to pick Bella up from school and then return her without them ripping him apart for being on their land.

It was a welcome change to what it had been even six months ago, and he smiled inwardly at the thought. Jasper Whitlock, youngest Major in the Confederate Army, the master negotiator and ender of blood feuds. He almost laughed out loud at that, his ego was getting to his head!

"Think about what I said, okay?" Jasper said quietly enough as to not be heard outside the car. Music and whispering kept the wolves away.

"I will, Jasper. And thank you for giving me this weekend off. I'm dead tired, not sleeping well at all." Bella yawned in between words as if to drive the thought home. "Thank you for the ride, even if you _do_ drive fast enough to liquefy me in a crash."

"If you're liquefied at least you won't feel it." Jasper joked back and gave Bella a quick hug before she got out of the car. Embry and the female wolf were walking from around the back of the houses, they were in their customary cut offs and a simple shirt for the female. "Be safe, Bella."

"I promise." Bella replied as she got out of the car and grabbed her bag. Jasper drove the speed limit in the reservation at least, an order from Sam about being on the roads here, so his departure was slower than he would have liked.

"Hey Bella!" Embry wrapped his warm arms around her shoulders as she turned away from the road. The pain was coming back hard today as Jasper drove away- enough that she winced a little when she went to take a step. Leah and Embry noticed instantly. "Are you alright? Do you need to sit down?"

"Did they hurt you?" Leah asked a pointed question as Embry began to mother hen and chicken little all at once. Leah smelled the air and didn't smell blood, even pooling bruises gave off a little bit of a smell. She did catch the obvious scent of recent tears, which made her narrow her eyes. "Why have you been crying?"

"I'm alright you two. Seriously- things between Rose and I just got really deeply emotional today, and it made me cry. They didn't do anything except help me with my homework, talk to me, oh and Rose made me tea." Bella looked from Leah to Embry, making sure to look into their eyes so they could see she was being truthful.

"Well… If that's all." Embry let the phrase die in the air, he rechecked Bella one more time before shrugging and pulling Bella into the house. He was curious about this big dinner that Charlie and his mom had decided to randomly have. Not that his mom hadn't eaten at the Swan house almost every other day the last few weeks- because she had. And if she wasn't and Bella was with them, Charlie was with his mom. "So, Bella, what did you make for dinner? It's killing me not to know."

"Homemade chicken parmesan and egg noodles with garlic bread and roasted vegetables. Oh, and a tiramisu." Bella replied breathily, the pain in her chest rising sharply. She made sure not to show it- she'd been trying to hide the pain from the Pack ever since it started and had managed to downplay it quite a bit.

"Need any help?" Embry was already salivating and 7 o'clock could officially not come soon enough. He loved home cooking and Bella was one hell of a cook even when she was just making eggs for breakfast. Embry had to admit, he was a sucker for food. All the wolves were.

"If you can manage not to _eat_ everything I ask you to help me with then yes. If not, then please stay out of my kitchen." Bella's voice was soft, pained. Leah invited herself into the house as she watched Bella.

Leah had been suspicious of Bella's lack of real response to Paul's not coming back, but she'd had no concrete proof of anything. Until now. Bella's heart kept racing and she was breathing raggedly, barely but it was there. She kept covering her chest for short moments as she talked to Embry, it looked almost like a pregnant woman protecting her womb. Or a someone protecting a broken heart.

 _Great Spirits I'm going soft…_ Leah thought to herself as she kept watching Bella. She was good at projecting an okay façade, but that's all it was. Embry was either ignoring it or remaining willfully ignorant of it. Idiot.

Time passed quickly with Embry keeping Bella busy, and suddenly it was 6:30. Charlie pulled into the drive with just enough time to go and shower up for dinner. Bella laughed to herself as her dad said hi to the kids in the kitchen, dropped off some flowers for the table, and then went upstairs to his bathroom.

"Charlie never gets flowers." Bella mumbled as she grabbed one of the few vases they owned and prepared them. Everything else was done or finishing up so she had a few moments to be able to get the table around. Embry had already set it for her. "Tonight must be special or he's slowly losing his mind living here."

"Probably both, Bella." Leah laughed as she looked at the time again. She needed to get to Sam as soon as possible, and patrol shift change was coming- he would be home. "Well, I'm going to get heading. Jared wants me to take over his shift tonight and I'm going to go to Sam's. See what I can get out of him for pulling a double."

"How nice of you, Leah." Embry rolled his eyes at his Pack Sister. "Remind me not to ask you to cover for me any time soon."

"As if you would ask me, Embry. You'd go to Quil or Jake first and you know it." Leah rolled her eyes as she gave Bella a quick hug then walked to the door. Jared hadn't asked for shit but Leah would make sure to tell him to _remember_ that she lied. And make sure he thought about it if he phased with Embry any time soon.

Lying was so much harder when people could read your mind.

Bella finished arranging the table just as a soft knock sounded through the air. The door opened almost immediately after the knocking and a soft feminine voice resounded through the air.

"Knock, knock." Tiffany Call's melodic voice rang through the air as she entered and shut the door to the house in one swift and graceful motion. Embry slunk deeper into the kitchen to avoid seeing his mother just yet, but Bella moved forward to offer a hug and a hello. "It's good to see you again, Bella. It's been, what, a day?"

"I'm sure you miss me up at the store when I'm gone." Bella joked in return with a pained smile plastered to her face. She was genuinely happy at seeing Tiffany but the pain in her chest was rushing through her entire body, it felt like she was going to fall apart at the seams. Deciding to keep conversation flowing, Bella commented on the first thing she noticed. "You look very nice tonight, Tiffany. You know that you don't have to dress up for me or Charlie."

"I'm not dressed up," Tiffany stumbled over her words as she vehemently began to deny the idea. Embry ducked his head around the corner to get a look at his mother's outfit and noted that she was, in fact, dressed up for this. Why would she dress up for a dinner at the Swan house?

"Hey mom…" Embry said as Tiffany caught sight of her son. It had been three days since they'd managed to cross paths. Tiffany had long since given up on asking the Council just _what_ her son was always doing. She worried, she wondered, and she desperately wanted to know- but she couldn't get in the way when the Council explained he was helping his Tribe and had pledged to protect his People.

Not that she wasn't suspicious of many things, but that was neither here nor there when it came to her son. If Embry was against anything he was doing she knew that he would come to her. She was still his mother after all.

"I do have a son." Tiffany nearly ran forward to bring her arms around Embry in a warm embrace. "I am beginning to think you're just in my head!"

"Nah, mom. I eat too much food to be a figment of your imagination." Embry joked a little awkwardly. He didn't like this, his mother treating him less like a son and more like a distant friend. It was heart wrenching in its own way, especially when he so desperately wanted a parent.

The Pack was family, but it just wasn't the same… family was something that couldn't be replaced.

Charlie's unmistakable trip down the stairs brought everyone back to the present as they turned to see the Chief of Police enter the great room dressed nearly as nice as Tiffany was. Bella's eyes immediately narrowed in suspicion as she took in the two older adults. Charlie barely liked wearing nice things for funerals or weddings, let alone a dinner _in his own house_.

"Well, I feel underdressed." Bella's sarcastic quip was met with laughter from Embry and Tiffany. "Dinner's ready if everyone wants to come to the table. I just have to get the food off the stove."

"I've got the pans, Bella." Embry turned and reached for the fresh-out-of-the-oven pan of chicken. Bella smacked him in the arm to get his attention. One quick shake of Bella's head and he remembered- people used oven mitts to pick up hot things. He mouthed a quick 'thank you' to Bella and grabbed a towel from the counter to grab the pan.

"Thanks Embry." Bella moved around him to grab the basket of garlic bread. When she turned to try and grab the vegetables she almost squeaked to see Embry there again, pan in hand. "Again, thank you."

Dinner was a quiet thing, with the usual trivial conversation about how days were and what school was like. Bella noticed that Tiffany seemed to hang on to every word that Embry said, scanning her son's face as if it was the last time she would see him. It made Bella's already broken heart hurt even more, but there was little she could do to help.

"Now, kids." Charlie finally called attention to the weirdness of the night as Bella served the tiramisu around the table. Her father waited for her to sit back down before he continued talking, though Embry was still digging in without a break. "Tiffany and I would like to talk to you both about something."

Bella and Embry both froze. Both of them had seen or dealt with enough cliché shit to know that there was going to be either something really awesome going on _or_ this was about to get completely awkward. Both were hoping it was the former and not the latter.

"Embry," Tiffany looked directly at her son with a soft smile. "I know that we haven't seen much of each other recently and that you've been busy with the work that the Council has given you but… I have wanted to talk to you about this now for a while." Tiffany took a deep breath and exhaled it in one burst before she talked almost too quickly to understand. "Charlie and I have been seeing each other for a while now."

"Okay?" Embry drug the 'ay' out in confusion. "You two know that you're like the worst kept secret on the entire Res, right?"

"We know." Charlie said in all seriousness. "But our seeing each other isn't what we want to talk about, son." Charlie rubbed the back of his neck as a blush began to form under his ears. "Your mother and I have been seeing each other off and on now for years. A few dates here and there, then months of nothing… We could never seem to get a rhythm to it."

"I'm glad you two managed to make a relationship out of it, then." Embry was completely oblivious, and it almost made Bella giggle. She was waiting for it all to click in place for the younger teen, but it wasn't even ruffling his hair.

"Charlie asked me to marry him, and I said yes." Tiffany finally said in the silence. Bella internally jumped for joy at being right and at seeing the happy look on Charlie's face when Tiffany grabbed his hand in hers. "We wanted to talk to you two about this before anything else went forward. I know that you're eighteen, Bella, but you're only sixteen Embry. And I know that the idea of having a man in the house this late in the game…"

"Are you kidding?!" Embry's enthusiasm seemed to shock his mother, who looked aghast at the interruption. "I already see Bella like a sister, we've gotten close over this last year. And Charlie is cool, I mean he's kind of a hard ass- no offense Charlie- but he's cool. And he makes you happy, why would that be a bad thing?"

"I told you he wouldn't have a problem with it, dear." Charlie mumbled to Tiffany. The woman was still trying to process just how _well_ Embry was taking the news. She had expected a stereotypical teenage meltdown over having a step parent. She hadn't expected Embry to be _happy_ about it yet.

"Well, I… Prepare for the worst, Charlie." Tiffany replied in embarrassment as she looked down at their hands. Bringing her eyes back up she surveyed the two kids. "You both are okay with this? I mean, Bella, I don't want you to feel like I'm replacing Renee or anything like that."

"You're not, Tiffany. You are a completely different woman and this is a different time in Charlie's life. I am happy for the two of you." Bella smiled widely, sincerely. "A little more warning would have been nice, though. I only just found out that the rumors of you two dating were true!"

"Well we were trying to be inconspicuous." That got a laugh out of everyone at the table. The air in the room lightened and seemed to shine as the soon to be family began to talk about things like wedding dates, colors, flowers, and Embry asking to see his mother's new ring.

* * *

 **Cheveyo:** _For a human, you have a remarkable amount of strength._

 **Paul:** _And for a spirit you don't know when to give up. I'm_ _ **not**_ _going back to the Res until I can control you. Like you keep saying, you dumb animal, we share a mind. Do you really think I can't see what you're imagining_ _ **doing**_ _with Bella? Because I can, and none of that is happening._ _ **None**_ _of it._

 **Cheveyo:** _Why can't it? You think that domination must include some sort of bonds. You look at it like I am trying to chain her up or make her a slave to us. Why is that where you mind goes? Such an interesting thought but I am not used to it._

 **Paul:** _Get out of my head already!_

The nearly shaggy silver wolf dropped to the forest floor with a whine. He had been pacing his new home again when Cheveyo had come to him to talk. Paul had gotten proficient at ignoring his wolf but sometimes, when his guard was down, the dog still managed to get through.

 **Cheveyo:** _I don't want to fight you, Paul Lahote. We are one being, why would I fight myself? I am trying to connect with you, to bring us closer. To close the gap between man and wolf- you've been fighting this for far too long. Why can't you see that we are better when we work together?_

 **Paul:** _Because you want to make me into a monster, that's why! You focus so hard on the need to be dominant, to be feared or respected. You don't even seem to care if Bella fears_ _ **us**_ _just as long as it gets you whatever you want. Why would I want to accept that as part of myself?_

 **Cheveyo:** _Because I am part of you. You can't hide from me._

Cheveyo whined in their mind and began to howl in pain just as an intense headache hit Paul for the fifth time that day. It was coming more often now, and staying longer. The distance from Bella and his Pack was proving to be what was going to kill him, them. Paul couldn't have cared other than he would miss his Swan- but death before surrendering to the animal in his mind was much better than any other option he saw.

 **Cheveyo:** _Fighting me over her does no good if you kill us while doing it, Paul. We need to go home, to be near our Pack. Our imprint. She needs us, how can you not feel it? I know you do, but you ignore it. The pain in your chest will get worse, the headaches will come and never go away. We are going to_ _ **die**_ _, foolish human! Death is_ _ **not**_ _an option I am willing to accept._

Paul thought about it for a moment, hesitating as the headache receded again. Cheveyo was right- fighting this way was killing both of them. And as much as death seemed like a way to disconnect from the wolf it was also a surefire way to not see Bella _ever_ again. He didn't want to return to the Reservation, because he wasn't sure he would leave once he was there.

But he needed to see her.

 **Paul:** _Only because I value living more than I want to get rid of you will I go back._

 **Cheveyo:** _It's good to see you still have some sense in that head of ours._

 **Paul:** _I swear to the Spirits I am going to kill you._

 **Cheveyo:** _And there goes the sense. You humans are weird in these times._

Paul ignored his wolf as he pushed his powerful legs and launched himself southward. The ache in his chest and body seemed to know that he was going back to Bella, it seemed to get less and less with the pounding of every paw on the ground.

His thoughts turned to what Cheveyo had been telling him during their self-inflicted isolation. Was the wolf right? Did he actually have to accept that the instincts that came with the animal, the primal needs and wants, the downright animalistic anger was part of _him_ too?

Paul had always been an angry child, not overly so until his transition to being a Protector but the Council had told him and the Pack that the anger came from the wolf. Did it really? The Council had lied plenty up to now, could they have inadvertently, or purposefully, lied about this to? Was the anger, the need to protect, the ability to fight and kill… Was that part of them before they had turned?

It would make sense, Paul decided. Cheveyo had said that warriors in older generations had to _prove_ they could have a wolf, they had to be worthy of it. Wouldn't part of that worth lie in doing anything to protect their People? That would make sense since vampires still looked very human, and someone with a conscience might hesitate just a second too long.

Deciding that this was something best discussed with Sam at a later time, and to avoid feeling like complete and utter hell when he laid eyes on Bella for the first time in weeks, Paul dropped the subject in his mind and focused only on Bella. He remembered her face, her skin, her hair. She had been burned into his memory perfectly and up until now he had been keeping himself from imagining her. She was there every time he closed his eyes, but he kept her out of his mind when he was awake on purpose.

Just as Paul breached the northern border of Pack territory a noise shattered what little calm Paul had. A voice in the woods, screaming. He knew that voice, to his very soul he knew that voice. His heart broke as his wolf began to howl in such an intense pain that was nothing like they had experienced before in their isolation.

" _Why?!"_ Bella's voice drifted through the trees in broken sobs. Paul hit the floor of the forest and covered his ears with his giant paws. The noise hurt worse than the pain that was making breathing impossible. Then he remembered something Cheveyo had said, and terror gripped him harder than the pain did.

 _He was feeling_ _ **her**_ _pain._

* * *

 _A/N: Hello my dears! Before I say anything else I would like to apologize for the tease in last chapter's author's note. I had originally planned the smut to come in this chapter but upon reading it I didn't like the flow of the two chapters (this one and the next) if I put it here. **However** , that does not mean that the smut scene is not forthcoming. I am just going to pick up after the dinner for Bella to where we have left off with Paul. It works a little better this way as far as the story goes._

 _Many thanks to all of my readers and to those who have commented on this story. I am so glad that you have enjoyed your time thus far and love some of your reviews as far as what you like, didn't like, and would like to see. I know that it makes me very happy to see some of you having ideas and theories for this plot line. You all are amazing, and I can't wait to see you again!_


	52. Dominance and Submission

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

Dinner had been a resounding success. Embry even went back to his house, a whole hundred feet away, with his mother; he had been chatting away excitedly about the new stage in his life. Bella smiled as she thought about how genuinely happy Embry had been for his mother and Charlie. Everyone on the Res had known they were seeing each other for months now apparently- but no one wanted to push it.

Tiffany and Charlie had both been hurt enough. Even Billy had butt out of it and he was the biggest fan of the idea of them being together.

She had finished cleaning up the rest of the dishes at least thirty minutes ago, but she was still staring out of the window above the sink. The sun was setting and the forest seemed so inviting in the darkening air. For some reason Bella just really felt the need to go to the forest- she couldn't seem to shake it.

But she also wanted to go to Paul's house. Maybe Jasper was right, maybe she needed to lance the wound. Sometimes you had to hurt worse to get better, and right now Bella wasn't even sure that things _could_ get worse.

"Hey Charlie?" Bella called out to her father as she resolved to just do it. She needed closure, or she needed Paul home. She was breaking from the inside out. Her father made a noncommittal noise, something between a questioning grunt and a verbal 'huh.' "I'm going to Sam's for a bit, okay?"

"Be careful Bella, it's getting late." Charlie's usual reply came from where he sat. Her father had quickly went upstairs to change once dinner was over and was now sitting in front of one show or game or another.

"It's just Sam's, dad." Bella replied with an eye roll as she grabbed the keys to her truck and walked out the door with a wave to her father. Bella climbed into her truck slowly, her whole body seemed to scream with the effort that it took for her to even do so.

Bella didn't know how anyone lived with this kind of pain. She knew they did- there were legitimate diseases that could cause pain like this to persist and eventually get worse. Possibly kill.

Was that what was going to happen to her?

The drive to Sam's house was anything but calming to Bella, her nerves ramped up with each rotation of her tires until she felt as brittle as sugar glass. Every breath seemed to break her heart, each movement fractured her very bones.

Imprinting was a beautiful thing according to Sam, and Jared now that he had imprinted himself. They described the depth of their feelings, the connection that went to their very core. Sam talked about the pain he had been in when Emily had been scarred, how his wolf had nearly killed him from the inside out for having lost his control and hurting their mate. Jared, being younger and newer to the imprint thing, had talked about the pain of being away from his imprint, Kim, for too long. How his chest would pull and the wolf inside of him would pace and tear and try to break to the surface inside him when there was distance.

Bella wondered if Paul felt the same thing, or did their initial separation make him immune to the pain? Was Paul feeling like her? Did he want to die? Was he losing sleep? Or was Paul managing as Paul always managed before?

Was there another woman in his arms to replace her?

Trying to shake those thoughts as she parked her truck Bella found herself sitting in the dark outside Sam's house. Her eyes unfocused as she lost herself in thought, worrying about whether or not Paul would ever come back.

What had she done?

Yes, she had the rest of the Pack and all of her Brothers had tried their best to comfort her in the last few weeks. It wasn't the same, however. They filled different holes in her chest- different needs in her life. She had family, she had warmth, she was cared for and well protected. But there was still an abyss inside of her, one that nothing else had been able to even touch.

A gentle knocking on her window brought Bella to an instant and intense level of alert as she jumped and looked at the window. Standing outside looking in on her was Jake, the pain in his eyes seemed to mirror the pain in her heart. He looked almost lost as he watched every move Bella made.

And that thought was technically true, though Bella didn't know it. Jake was just as lost as Bella was, for nearly the same reason. His heart had begun to ache as he brooded and isolated himself from his Pack and Brothers. His anger at Paul was boiling over to the other members and Jake didn't want to hurt his Pack by losing his control around them. Bella helped, her presence calmed all the wolves, but she still wasn't enough. There was a hole there, a place in his soul that even she couldn't fill.

"Hey Jake," Bella said quietly as she got out of her truck. Her days of stumbling long past her and she still managed to lose footing and nearly fall. Jake caught her deftly with a single large, hot, hand and righted the girl before shutting the door behind her. "You okay? You look like shit, man."

"I… I don't know." Jake replied with his eyes downcast. He wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around the pale girl in front of him and drink in the warmth she would provide, to bask in the glow that Bella Swan had become. But he just couldn't. "I feel empty, Bells. Lonely, kind of broken. I can't put my finger on it either. Sam keeps spouting crap about Paul being gone causing everyone to have a missing piece of them but that sounds like horse shit to me."

Bella leaned up and rest her head on Jake's chest as she circled his hard torso with her little arms. The wolf immediately returned the gesture and breathed a sigh of relief and relaxation as he began to slowly take in the comfort and inner warmth that Bella was offering to him. He felt greedy, knowing that she was dying on the inside from the distance between her and her mate- but the greed could not overshadow the need.

"Have you thought about that dream of yours, Jake?" Bella asked into the quiet night between them. She could hear the ruckus inside and knew that if any of the wolves in Sam's cabin had taken care to listen they would hear but she didn't really care. Privacy didn't exist with a Pack mind.

"I have but I can't find the lesson it's trying to teach me, Bells." Jake exhaled with an exasperated growl. He wasn't mad or irritated at the girl in his arms, more at his own inability to decipher his recurring nightmare. Well, nightmare was strong. It was a lovely dream, really. Full of laughter and light and love- but it was incessant in returning every night. The dream turned to a nightmare as it gnawed at him.

"If you're finally willing to listen to my opinion…" Bella trailed off as she rolled her eyes. She had tried to honestly talk to Jake about this many times since he came to her a few days ago- but he always turned down listening to what he called 'pure idiocy.'

Jake took a sharp breath and held it for a moment, warring with himself inside of his head. On one side was the part of him who desperately wanted to know, sought the answer to this dream with everything; and on the other was the part of him that wanted not to know, that preferred blissful, if pained, ignorance. The part of him that wished to remain young and wanted to be able to go back and still be an idiot, just going to school and barely paying attention.

Releasing his breath, Jake finally spoke. "At this point, yeah… I guess I'm willing to listen."

"Honestly, I think you imprinted." Bella began only to be interrupted by Jake as usual.

"Duh, Bells. I imprinted on you- like everyone did." Jake snorted as he stopped Bella from talking. Shock hit him, almost literally, as Bella _literally_ hit him. It wasn't hard, and certainly didn't hurt him- he was sure it stung her hand. "What the hell?"

"You're not listening to me." Bella replied matter-of-factly and continued talking without giving Jake a moment to interrupt again. "Like I was saying before, I think you imprinted as in _fully_ imprinted. You're having the same issues Jared had last week with Kim, and the kind Sam talks about when he is away from Emily too long." Bella made sure to leave her personal experiences with such things out of her words- Jake was the least stable about Paul having run off and she didn't need him blowing up.

"Or what you're feeling right now?" Jake whispered into Bella's ear, the act was oddly intimate between the two of them- but it held no awkwardness or intentions. It was a balanced intimacy, like that of lovers who had past their time together- which struck Bella as odd since they had never been anything beyond friends. Close friends, but friends nonetheless.

"What I'm feeling right now is safe, Jacob Black." Bella sighed into Jake's chest as she tilted her face to rest her cheek against him instead of her forehead. "You're avoiding it, though. Why is the idea of you imprinting so hard for you?"

"I'm young, Bella. I had dreams, wants, and a life I had planned- all of that was ripped away when I became a wolf." Jake growled low, the vibrations in his chest were somehow relaxing to Bella. It was odd, knowing the difference in the growls of the Pack. "And now this imprinting stuff. As 'cute' as it sounds to know who your soul mate is… where's the choice? Did you get a choice? Did Emily? Kim? No- none of you did. Especially you."

"My case is different, Jake." Bella tried to interject but Jake continued talking over her.

"Like hell it is, Bella." Jake nearly growled again as he spoke. His voice was a deep timbre in his chest, something that should have scared Bella witless. "You're breaking, honey. Everyone can see it and no one wants to say a damn thing about it."

"We're not talking about me Jacob Black." Bella sounded surprisingly stern as she backed up and gave her friend a smack on the chest. "I am talking about you, _to_ you. And you're deflecting and being an idiot."

"Woof, Bella." Jake replied and pulled his arms to his chest, hands hanging down like a dog begging for a treat. "Teach me, oh great one. This dog can learn tricks."

"Can he? Seems too dumb to me." Bella muttered before continuing. Jake feigned hurt at her words but let it slide with a smile. "You need to _listen_ to yourself, Jake. Sam _knows_ where Emily is when she's near, and Jared seems the same way about Kim. They know, instinctually, by the energy of their mates. You _know_ where I am and how I am when I'm close, the whole Pack seems so damn tuned to me that it's kind of weird really."

"And?"

Bella exhaled and rolled her eyes in disgust. "Listen to me, damn it! Your wolf, the animal inside you- I've met him. _Many_ times, to be plain about it. You have instincts, senses, and abilities that humans can only imagine and write about in comic books and supernatural novels. _Use them_."

"What are you talking about, Bella?" Jake's interest was officially piqued on the subject- she had said something that stuck with him. Instincts. He had them, and he had been _ignoring_ them for a few weeks now. He was telling himself that it was because of Bella and her issues but if he was honest with himself… he was afraid of where they would lead.

"That line that tugs at your chest in the dark hours of the night? The howling that fills your dreams and haunts you every time you close your eyes? I know that tug, I've heard those howls." Bella inspected her best friend's eyes and saw the terrified recognition in their depths. _He knew._ "Follow that thread, grasp it and follow it to where it leads. Trust your instincts and I promise you will find where those howls are coming from."

Jake thought about things for a minute before he released Bella. She was right, and he knew it. He had heard those howls in the night- only in his head. The sounds haunted him when he tried to sleep and even worse when he was awake and trying to run from them. His chest burned with a longing he didn't understand and a need he didn't want.

 _Bella was right._ And that was all that mattered.

"Damn it, Bells." Jake replied with a sadness that she didn't understand. "You're right. I hate you, but you're right."

"No, you don't." Bella smiled up at him before turning away from the house. "Hey, tell Sam I'm leaving my truck here- okay? I need to take a walk, and my dad thinks I'm here."

"Where…?" Jake started to ask, trailing in confusion.

"I have to be near him, somehow." Bella's smile was faked and full of sadness. It seemed almost like she wasn't even believing the words coming out of her mouth. "I need this, Jake. And I don't want my truck there. Please, let me do this."

Jake nodded silently and agreed. The Reservation was safe, patrols were being run and the entire Pack was home- aside from Paul. In his heart, he knew that Bella needed this- and he wasn't going to stand in her way as much as he wanted to.

"Go, Bells. Do what you need to do."

"Thank you." Bella turned away and began to walk off into the rapidly descending darkness. The sun had seemed to burn the sky for hours and was now dwindling to coals. She took a deep breath and kept walking when her feet stopped and hesitated. She couldn't go back, not this time. Not _today._

She had run from Paul and this pain long enough.

Night had come not even an hour ago, though it might as well had been day to the eyes of the wolf. He was pacing, large and agitated. His human mind was still in too much control, there was a stop- it wasn't allowing the wolf to take over and follow the instincts that were screaming.

The animal was more primal- almost feral in its ferocity and need for this. The man was more timid, worried about the outcome, wondering where this road would lead. Aggravated growls ripped through their shared throat as the wolf fought the man- a fight they would play out thousands of times before their spirits would meet again after death.

It was an inevitability.

 _Follow._ The wolf said, repeatedly and incessantly, in the man's head. Their head. Their body. So many things they shared, so many places where privacy didn't matter- so many things the blessing of a Spirit Wolf turned into a curse.

Innocence lost. Paradise turns to damnation in the dark hours of self-doubt and internal warring.

 _Follow. Need. Don't deny, don't run. Follow._ The wolf was getting louder and the man fatigued. There was no fight left in the man, the wolf couldn't be happier. The animal yipped for joy as it slid into control of their shared form, scratching the earth lightly with its claws before launching into a full run into the darkness of the forest.

The run felt luxurious to the wolf- it was instinctual and as much of a need as breathing to the animal. The man liked running too, though he hated the second body that transformed from his original. The man had not fully accepted that _this_ body was his body too. The wolf would teach, the man would know- but now the man had to learn something else. The man had to _feel_ and the wolf had to inflict the feeling.

An odd thing, for the animal. Feelings were new, different. Men were much more complex now than they had been before- so many new things and emotions that used to be hidden in the dark recesses of their minds. New worlds, new things.

A house the man didn't recognize came into view. The wolf knew this was the house, he could _feel_ her. All ties to the world and beyond were in that house, he could smell her and she was delectable in her scent. Lustrous- all earth and grit and raw feminine power. It was heady, and the man reveled in the scent as much as the wolf.

Human hands knocked on a door- when had the wolf given him control? Steps echoed from within the house, soft enough that without his wolf hearing the man would have missed them. Fingers touched the knob and it trembled lightly beneath them, the woman on the other side hesitated. The wolf nearly howled aloud in need but the man kept silent.

The door opened and shocked brown eyes met across the threshold. A soft gasp met the harsh breathing of a man insane- and the world melted away for man and woman. There was nothing except the other and neither was willing to break the connection that was flowing so freely between the two of them.

Alpha male energy met and synced with that of his mate, just as alpha female energies surged through her own.

" _Jake?"_ Leah's shock was palpable as the finally broke the silence between the two of them. Her eyes raked up and down his body, beautifully naked in the moonlight. She couldn't find more words than his name and she was desperately hoping that he would supply more.

"Leah." Jake took a confident step forward, his voice causing her to look back into his eyes. He captured her there and held her, it felt like he was pressing her into fire with his eyes. She met him look for look and he burned with her.

There was nothing more said between the two of them as both Spirit Warriors came together in a clash of lips, tongues, teeth, and feral need. There was time to make up for, missed moments, and weeks of pent up rage and aggression between the two of them.

Neither human understood the catharsis happening but they both just knew, in their shared souls, that the wolves needed this. There would be another time for pretty words and romantic actions- another time and proper settings for them to talk and handle things.

This? This time was for the wolves- for the animals. And they would ride this high for as long as they could.

The door shut and echoed into the empty night as the two stumbled into the little out of the way shack.

Bella was staring at Paul's door. She had been for a while now and nothing she was saying to herself seemed to motivate her to actually go and _touch_ it. To open it, to enter it, to see what she already knew lay behind it.

Paul's house would be untouched and as silent as a mausoleum. It would be empty and drained of life, laughter, and love. This house was nothing more than a shell and she knew that.

So why was she here?

" _They are terrified for you."_ Rose had sad, her words echoing in Bella's mind like a hammer hitting a nail. It drummed through her with resounding clarity. _"They are willing to kill every vampire in the state of Washington, at any given time, to protect you."_

Bella took another step forward and reached out, her hand hesitating before it reached the door. She still couldn't make herself open it. She was afraid. She was in pain. Paul was probably thousands of miles away, with Spirits know who, probably doing anything and everything he could to forget her.

Why hadn't he come back to her? Wasn't he in pain too?

" _Terrified."_ Rose's voice was melodic as it repeated that word.

Who was terrified now? She was.

"Damn it, Bella. Stop this." The girl ground her teeth together hard enough that it almost hurt as she pressed forward and opened the door to Paul's house. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, she took the step beyond the doorway.

Clenching her eyes as shut as she possibly could, Bella waited. And waited. Releasing her breath and finally opening her eyes, she looked around. What she was waiting for didn't seem to be coming, and she wasn't even sure she would know what it was when she _did_ find it. Groaning at her own stupidity she found herself wandering through the first floor of the dark house.

It was barely lit enough from night lights for her to see where she was going. And even that was barely. Her hands were out and touched the surroundings of the rooms as she half-blindly tried to find her way through the area. She wanted to find whatever relief she was seeking.

And then she wanted to leave. Her chest was tightening more and more with each step and she was beginning to believe that the pain would become too much.

Bella's biggest fear was that she wasn't going to walk out of this house alive at this point. She was breaking. Jake had been right. She wasn't going to make it out of this- she was going to die here, wasn't she?

No.

Bella's resolve steeled itself as she walked back to the stairs. Her shoulders squared, her head held high. This place, her pain, Paul and his disappearance- the distance between them that felt like stars… _none_ of that would break her. She had broken once.

 _Never again._

Bella's hand shook as she lightly drug her fingers up the railing. The stairs felt forever long and miles high. She didn't know what she was dreading as she walked up. There was nothing up here, two rooms.

The bedroom and the bathroom.

 _The bedroom_.

Why would the bedroom hold anything for her? She'd been there once, and that was an innocent moment. Bella didn't know, or didn't want to know, what was leading her here.

The door sat at the top of the stairs and was slightly ajar. It seemed to call to Bella in an almost welcoming tone- the pull in her chest becoming so much more aggressive as she placed her palm against the wood and pushed ever so lightly.

Well-oiled hinges swung the door in silence and she was given a full view of the bedroom. Bella stopped again, hesitating for what seemed like the thousandth time in less than ten minutes. Something wanted her in this room, she could feel it. The pull was distinct and indescribable- it terrified her to the very core of her being. It wasn't like when the Great Wolf, Taha Aki, would come to her; it wasn't like the pull that had brought her to the wolves in the first place.

This was different, almost malicious in intent. The bond between her and her wolf seemed to tremble in her chest. Straining and shaking it stretched within her. Whether it was from the physical distance of Paul or the emotional, she wasn't sure.

And whatever was in this room was either going to break it or snap it back.

She wasn't ready. She didn't want to. She had to. There was no other choice.

Bella took a deep breath and stepped into the bedroom. The world faded and became fuzzy- it was as if she had entered a dream. Or a memory she couldn't fully recall.

" _Paul- you know that this is a tribal matter as well as a Pack matter. I cannot make any decision without the acceptance of the council on this matter. You will submit yourself to the judgement of the council, Paul Lahote, and on this matter you will accept their judgement without retaliation or defiance. Your actions shall cause judgement on two souls today- I hope you are ready for the consequences."_

 _Sam. That was Sam._

Bella looked around the darkened room but saw no one- she was alone. Where was that voice coming from? Why did this sound so familiar?

" _Paul, I can't help you this time. As angry as I am at you… well, the imprint in me tells me that she needs you, and in a weird way I can't explain… that she needed_ _ **this**_ _too. I can't say why; I keep seeing it- in my dreams. I know she needs this, but I truly do not know why. The Pack will protect her until the end- no matter what the Council decides."_

 _What did she need? Why couldn't she speak? So… dark. So alone._

 _Broken._

Bella shook her head as she pulled her hands over her ears. What was going on?!

" _My Swan, my love, my Bella. I promise I will protect you- always. I will never leave you, and one day you will live here, with me. We'll sleep in this bed together, we'll build on this house together… We'll get married and have children. Nothing will take you from me, leeches be damned, Jake and his crush can go to hell. I love you. I just wish I was man enough to say it with you awake."_

 _Paul. Love. Marriage. So tired._

 _Warmth, love. Embrace it, sink in it._

 _Love._

Bella screamed as she tore through the house. Tears fell and burned hotter than fire as they left streaks of salty remnants on her face. She nearly broke the door off as she tumbled through it, barely conscious of her actions enough to close it again behind her.

What were those words? When had she heard them? Why did they seem so familiar, so close, and yet so far away?

Branches seemed to tear against her skin as she continued sprinting through the woods. Bella couldn't see where she was going and honestly didn't care. She needed to get away, to escape. Where she went didn't matter.

Paul wouldn't be there.

She would still be alone.

As Bella stumbled over her own feet she broke through some bushes into a familiar break in the trees. Ahead of her, growing tall and proud in the dark, sat the willow trees where she and Paul had sat and talked. There was still a ring for fires, from when they had made love in the shadow of those trees. The babbling spring-brook whispered tales to her as Bella panted from the exertion of running.

Still crying, unsure of her steps and breaking inside, she rushed forward to the trees. Unthinking, unrepentant, out of control- Bella began to smack and punch the trees in wild, reckless, abandon. Her knuckles quickly bled as skin broke open against ancient bark.

She didn't care.

The bond was snapping back to her, the pain was too much to bear. Part of Bella wished so much that it would just break. Paul had _left._ He had _run away_ from her.

Had he ever even imprinted?

Was it all a lie?

A missed punch against one of the trees sent Bella reeling into the creek, smacking the water with a resounding _smack_ and a large splash. She came sputtering and spitting to the surface, the cold water as sobering as anything could be.

" _Why?!"_ Her voice was cracking and broken, she didn't have much left in her. Still, though, she attacked the water and kept screaming that word, a single syllable that held all her anger and pain.

It felt like forever in the water as Bella finally began to lose the energy she had gained in her breakdown. Her smacks became softer, less frequent. Her voice, long gone from a raw throat, stopped coming when she opened her mouth. Tears mingled with the water she was standing in but even they weren't falling from her eyes anymore.

Wading over to the overgrown roots, she pulled herself up and out of the brook. Water dripped from her body and made the softest noises as it streamed from her to the roots and the roots back to the brook. The night air was cold against her skin, she shivered but did not move from where she had rolled onto her back. She wasn't comfortable, but she wasn't moving.

"Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice. From what I've tasted of desire I hold with those who favor fire." Bella closed her eyes as she recited the first poem that came to her mind in the darkness, how apropos of the situation- she would have laughed if it wouldn't have sounded as harsh and bitter as nails on a chalkboard. "But if I had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate to say that for destruction ice is also great…"

A growling brought Bella abruptly to her feet, stumbling a little for purchase on the twisting root system. Turning towards the edge of the trees, she waited- breathing shallow and eyes wide as the moon. There, in all his feral lupine glory stood a wolf- _her_ wolf. His great body, silver and glowing in the limited moon and starlight, was tense as he prowled forward. His eyes trained on her- scanning over her wet body and skin tight clothing to the still-bleeding breaks on her hands and knuckles.

He growled again lightly at the sight and scent of her blood but he did not stop coming towards her.

"And would suffice." Bella's breath whispered the last words to the poem as she waited to see what Paul would do.

The lines of his body were completely that of a predator, a stalking and hunting predator. Bella knew from the inside out that he was not here to hurt her, he could never hurt her. That was the one thing of which she was certain in this moment- though everything else was guesswork and hope.

"Paul?" Bella stepped forward after a few moments of silence between them. The wolf narrowed his eyes and flicked his ears back then forward again. He adjusted his stance to stand more readily solid- Bella nearly confused it for an angry stance until she realized it was a mimic of Sam when he's being 'full alpha.'

It didn't take the human long to understand the wolf- though she did take her time before responding to his silent speech. Paul watched every move she made, his eyes bright and feral and very much the wolf he was. The wolf preened and stood tall in the dark; ever the picture of pure animalistic male dominance. When Bella took too long to respond to his initial call for submission Paul began to growl low- just barely on the edge of Bella's hearing. She wouldn't have been able to hear the other noises he would have made for a wolf, but this worked for them.

Bella took another step forward, head high and in no way submissive in her own stance or movements. The wolf in front of her curled his lip up to show the barest edges of his sharp teeth, stretching his claws out to prove to the human that he was not to be trifled with.

Paul, the man, began to scream inside of his shared head. Cheveyo, the wolf, would not relinquish control of their shared home, not yet. The man would be too gentle, too giving, and this was something the Wolf _felt_. His mate, their mate, needed to feel this with them.

She needed to submit. It was the way, it was right.

 **Paul:** _Mates can be equal! They can be partners!_

 **Cheveyo:** _You humans are so intriguing, Paul. Mates are never truly equal. Even the Alpha Female is submissive to her Mate in such matters. She is our mate,_ _ **my**_ _mate. And if you demand she be equal to you then I will ensure she is submissive to_ _ **me.**_

Bella watched as Paul seemed to war with himself. His eyes clouded for a moment, though his strength in stance and alpha-like strength did not waiver in the slightest. She found herself wondering things that she had once pushed back to the edge of her mind, only to push the questions further from her consciousness as Paul's darkened eyes found her once more.

Whatever had just happened Bella was positive that it was _not_ the soft and caring side of Paul that won. And she wasn't sure what that meant for her.

She didn't care. She wanted, _needed_ , Paul.

Reaching a near-trembling hand out, Bella went to touch Paul's silvery muzzle. Her eyes stayed on the wolf's as she reached, achingly slowly. His lip curled higher on his jaw, exposing more teeth. Her breath hitched as he growled at her once again. This time it was not a soft warning growl, it was nearly a threat.

Paul, Bella realized, was not going to give in so easily.

"I'm not afraid of you, Paul." Bella whispered, knowing her voice would reveal the truth. "You are my imprint, my mate, and I am _not_ afraid of you."

 **Cheveyo:** _I don't need you to fear me completely, sweet Swan, but I do need you to know your place._

Not for the first time since the wolf had taken over did Paul begin to string expletives together in the general direction of his Spirit Wolf. Cheveyo ignored him completely, the man did not understand.

But he would.

The wolf picked up one very forepaw and pressed it, a little less than gently, against Bella's chest. He pushed with the least amount of strength he could, it sent Bella reeling backwards onto her rear. She didn't even put her arms out to catch her- she was shocked into not moving.

Bella looked up at the wolf with wide and nearly betrayed eyes. They were full of near-falling tears and her lip trembled. Whether it was in pain, defiance, or the same betrayal in her eyes he didn't know. Nor did the wolf really care.

 **Cheveyo:** _You know what to do, my dear mate. I can see it in those eyes. You know, you've researched. There's generations worth of knowledge in your head. Submit to me._

 **Paul:** _She can't fucking hear you, you stupid animal!_

 **Cheveyo:** _Hear me or not, she can_ _ **see**_ _. Look._

Man and wolf watched as Bella moved to stand. She made sure not to end up on all fours and rolled backwards to even avoid being on her knees in front of the wolf who had pushed her down. Her eyes showed no more betrayal, though they were also no less defiant than they had been before. She squared herself in front of her imprint and locked her stance- head high and a single hand on her delicate hips.

 **Cheveyo:** _A game, then? You're going to lose, little Swan._

The wolf stalked forward, prowling as if he was preparing to strike at any moment. Bella's calm waivered for a mere second, but he did not miss it. Bringing his body against hers for the barest moment, he pushed again as he curved around to her back.

Bella staggered but did not fall, the effort from staying upright serving only to cement her own defiance in her mind. Paul wanted to play this card, then fine. Let him.

She wasn't going to submit to a man who ran away.

The wolf growled again as Bella righted herself and stayed looking at the trees. She was keeping herself exposed, her back and neck open to wounding. Cheveyo thought about it for the barest moment- much to Paul's swearing anger- but thought better of putting his teeth on her neck like he would have his mate of old.

Humans were so fragile, after all.

"I am _not_ afraid of you, Paul." Bella's voice trembled as she tried to speak louder. The wolf made a noise akin to laughter, which served to anger her as she turned to face him again. "I am _not_ afraid of you!"

The wolf lowered his head long enough to push Bella to the ground again with his nose. She glared back at him with a look that promised the heat and passion of a thousand burning suns. The wolf could nearly _taste_ the sweet scent that was drifting from his mate. Like it or not, it seemed, the girl was aroused at their power play. The wolf regarded the girl for a moment and decided that she probably didn't even know she was aroused.

More the better for him.

"Quit pushing me, Paul." Bella moved to stand again, her delicate and lithe frame taking the posture of feminine dominance once more. "You are not going to push me around when it was _you_ who ran away."

The wolf growled in response to this, stepping forward only once. His ears were high, as was the hair that ran from the base of his skull to his nearly straight pointed tail. Bella gasped as he stalked forward another step, her eyes wider than she ever thought possible.

Playing the ballsy card herself, Bella took a step forward- meeting the wolf face to face. He moved to push her again and she grabbed his nose with a single hand. Her fingers could not wrap fully around his muzzle but she tried anyway. At her touch, the wolf stopped in surprise.

"I am not afraid of you. _You_ are the one who ran." Bella whispered again, her breath shaking and her heart beating fast in the fear she was claiming she didn't have.

Opening his mouth with low growl, the Wolf pushed Bella down again. This time, however, he did not stop growling at her. His eyes were steely hard, his stance completely rigid. There was no give in him, no softness. Bella gasped as her back hit the ground this time, he had laid her out flat on the dirt. She tried to right her mind but could not collect her thoughts as she shivered in the night.

The Wolf stalked forward, growling and barking in deep tones, to stand almost directly above Bella. She was panting, a whimper revealing the hurt she was hiding. He wasn't sure if it was physical or not, but the Wolf couldn't care yet.

She hadn't submitted to him.

Bringing his head down, jaw open, the Wolf very gently pressed a single paw into the softness of Bella's chest. Bella kept matching him look for look- his eyes a luminous predatory gaze and her defiance and petulant anger. He growled again, this time much closer to her. He could _feel_ the shivers that started at her head and traveled directly to her hot core.

All she had to do was submit.

"I. Am. Not. Afraid. Of. You." Bella panted between each word, more from the fear she was trying to pretend didn't exist than the weight of the paw on her chest. Paul was being gentle, if an asshole. The teeth, however, were beginning to scare her- as was the inhuman look in his eyes. He was completely feral, he didn't seem to even notice she was wet and shivering.

The Wolf responded to her words by moving his paw, it was a gentle motion but that wouldn't last more than a mere second. His claws dug into the material of Bella's shirt and the bra beneath, ripping them to shreds as he swiped. The barest edge of his claws brushed her fair skin, enough to be felt but not enough to break skin. He was testing her, though she didn't know it.

Just submit.

Bella gasped again, loud and frightened, as her body was exposed to the night air completely. Paul's eyes raked over her like that of a starving animal seeing food for the first time. He moved back to circle her, Bella did not move. She tried to calm her fluttering heart but could not, she swallowed thickly as she tried to find something, anything, to say.

The wolf nosed her skin, exposed and beautiful. He ran his teeth along it just as he had his claws. She shivered in fear and anticipation. Bella was reacting just as any mate would- the defiance slipping away into need. Submission didn't have to mean chains or lack of choice, it didn't mean anything more than a shift in power.

And power was not a solid thing, it shifted and swayed like the tides in the ocean. For now, the wolf needed his mate to submit, just now. Once, she had to relinquish the power she was so desperately holding on to.

 _Submit._

Bella finally lowered her gaze from the Wolf's, looking down at the ground. She did not physically move for a moment, but when she did the Wolf could have howling in joy if he did not need to still be the picture of feral male dominance. Rolling to her side, away from the animal, Bella moved to sit on her knees. She kept her eyes down, her chest was heaving with each breath. Her fear subsided as a weird reassuring calm began to flood her being, her voice broken the silence in a half-sob.

"Please."

 _*A/N: The SMUT begins after this. I toed the line as close as I felt comfortable before now. If you are not a fan of such things please read no further.*_

* * *

That was all the animal needed. She was in pure submission to him; her softer voice, lowered eyes, and shrinking figure was what the Wolf had been searching for. The sob almost broke his heart but he would deal with such emotional complexity later- now was not the time for that.

Without giving Paul back the control of their shared body, Cheveyo transitioned from wolf to man. He knelt on his feet next to Bella, her body reacted almost instantly to his. She shivered again, more heat pooling in her core. When had she begun to be turned on? She didn't dare look at him yet, she wasn't sure if she could meet his eyes.

Grasping a handful of her hair at the base of her head, her mate brought her face backwards to look at him. It did not hurt, though she hitched her breath in surprise at the move. He looked directly into her eyes, the lupine nature still staring at her from the human face. Bella gasped again, this wasn't Paul.

His wolf was in control, truly in control.

And she had just submitted to him. _Shit._

"You smell edible," The Wolf, whispered with Paul's voice. He brought his face to hers and nuzzled into her neck, right next to her mark. "So delicate, so soft." Wolf, as Bella was taking to calling him, licked the mark and that sent straight fire to her core. She could have sworn that she had already orgasmed- and he had literally only held her hair and licked her.

"P-p-please." She stuttered out, her need for her imprint and for release eating her chest from the inside out. Her fear long forgotten as she tried to reach for her lover. He grasped her wrists and turned her arms, gently yet unyielding, behind her back. He released her hair to hold her wrists.

Wolf made 'tsk' noises as he regarded her with a passionate gaze. He moved back to the mark again and licked once more, Bella arched her body upwards, her exposed breasts seemed nearly luminous in the muted light. Kissing and licking his way up her throat, Wolf claimed her lips for his and plundered her with an intense graceful rage.

Bella was dying, she felt it. Her skin was on fire, her breath being stolen from her by the beautiful native man that had captured her so wholly. She dared not move, dared not try to get away. She accepted this death by dominance with as much poise as she could.

"So soft," The Wolf whispered again in a harsh attempt at Paul's voice. It was as terrifying as it was beautiful, and as arousing as it was unsettling. Paul was a gentle lover, or he had been. This was new, this was rough and taking, demanding but not demeaning. "Lay back, Bella."

Bella's breath was wispy and shaken as she felt her wrists released by the Wolf, she lay back and closed her eyes to try and acclimate herself. A harsh nip to her left breast caused her to arch again, her eyes opening almost immediately in shock.

"Look at me, do _not_ close your eyes." The Wolf demanded of her. "See your submission, my dearest mate. Feel it, revel in it." The wolf grasped her pants and ripped them from her body with as much ease as he had her shirt, no claws required. "I will not hurt you."

Shivers ran down her spine as Bella arched and writhed under the ministrations of the Wolf. He was knowledgeable in the art of dominant seduction, never allowing her to gain the upper hand or become too comfortable with his hands, lips, teeth, or tongue. His nakedness seemed natural to him in this place, the damp earth beneath his hands and knees. She moaned and groaned, breathy noises escaping her with each exhale as she felt lavished, worshiped, and desecrated in the most delicious ways.

"Beg for me, Bella." Wolf growled into her ear after a while, his mouth so close to her core. He had been ghosting her lips and heat with breaths and the barest attentions- she was nearly sobbing in need for release. "I won't release you until you beg for me."

"Please!" Bella sobbed as the Wolf chuckled against her inner thigh, the vibrations of his breath and mouth driving her further down the path to pure insanity. "Please, please, please…"

"Beg, Bella." The Wolf licked a lazy trail up one thigh, above her aching core, and down the other thigh. He was playing with her, and even though it was slight torture to himself he was very much _amused_ with this. Her quivering body beneath his, her sobbing breaths a symphony of need and feminine softness in the night. "What are you asking for? Tell me. Beg. Me."

"Please. I… I need…" Bella's head was thrashing as the Wolf continued to toy with her, his fingers drifting around her legs, up and down. Near but never truly touching. She was going to die from this, he was a skilled predator. "I… I don't know… Need."

"Need?" Another chuckle, this one deep in his throat and purely male. "What do you need?" He nipped at her thigh again, Bella screamed in pleasure and pain in response. He hadn't hurt her, barely left a mark- but it was there. He had left multiple bites and nips around her body already, little bruises that would tell the world who she belonged to.

"Please. I need this. I need you." Bella begged again, tears of need spilling from her closed eyes as she tried to catch her breathing. The Wolf was suddenly straddling her, his hardness pressing gently against her core in even more torture.

"Do you really need me?" The Wolf was talking to her now, her mind hazy from sexual tension and release denial. "Look at me, Bella. Look into my eyes."

Bella opened her eyes once more, staring into the darkened lupine depths of his. She was wholly aware in that moment that this was more than just submission to him and his pressing dominance. She couldn't place what more this was about but she knew, instinctually, that there was more to this than just his need to have her underneath him.

"I am looking at you." She whispered, stuttering it out a little as she tried to relax into the ground. "I need _you._ " Bella wasn't sure what to say, what the Wolf wanted to hear. She didn't really understand the difference between Paul and his Wolf- she wasn't sure if they truly were two different beings or if the Wolf was just the personification of Paul's more dominant and angry side.

She'd never wanted to ask.

"Are you sure, little Swan?" The Wolf asked in a low, growling, voice. The timbre of it brought Bella arching up into him, he pressed her back down with his hips, she moaned lightly in response. "If you accept me, I will mark you. You will be _mine_ , _**ours**_ _,_ you will belong to no one else- I do not share well, I will not share. I will ask you to submit to me in some things, we will be equals in others. Do you understand this?"

As he asked his question he gave a soft thrust of his hips, pushing his hardened length along her nerves. She writhed again beneath him, a long and needy 'oh' slipping from her mouth as she pressed back against him with abandon.

"Do you understand?" The Wolf asked again, his mouth coming down to brush against the underside of Bella's jaw. He pressed light kisses and demanding, tasting, licks along her neck and jaw.

"Y-yes." Bella arched and pressed against him, her body fitting against him perfectly in their separated union. "I understand. You and I, you and him… we… mates. Imprints…" Her voice drifted away as the Wolf distracted her again, he was trying to not allow her to think- it was his game. Her conscious acceptance wasn't required for this. Though she was right there with him, matching him need for need- thrust for thrust, penetration still nonexistent.

"Say it, Bella." The Wolf growled lightly into her ear. "Say it for me."

"Please. I am no one's but yours. You are mine." Bella was scrambling for the right words, her desperation leading her to babble and ramble. "Take me, damn it!"

With those words, close enough for the Wolf, he brought her against him and kissed her hard and takingly. He was devouring her, his tongue and teeth bringing her to her figurative knees as he claimed and owned, denying her still the release she was seeking.

He flipped them on the ground, Bella found herself on her hands and knees in the soft, damp, grass. Her back had dew and a light smattering of dirt on it, he did not care. She was beautiful in her natural beauty, she overshadowed this very place in her breathtaking allure.

"Don't move." The Wolf positioned himself behind her, his body fully covering and curving to her own. His cock was so _close_ , his heat was touching her with the barest of contact. She arched against him and he brought his hand down on her rear with an echoing sound. She yelped. "Do. Not. Move."

Bella acquiesced this time, putting all her brain power and energy into trying to keep herself still in her need. Her breath came in ragged and broken pants, her skin rippling under the Wolf and his incessant touches.

"Please, take me." Bella whimpered again in need, her head hanging low and to the side, exposing her mark to the predator behind her.

Cheveyo, smugly crooning his win to Paul in their shared head, gave in to the begging of his mate beneath him. With all of the grace and subtlety of a bull in a china shop he grabbed her hips and thrust his length into her welcoming, searing hot, core. Like a sheath for a sword, he fit perfectly inside of her, stretching her to the limits of her sanity as he began a dominating and hard pace.

Bella couldn't stop the whimpers and moans that escaped her with every forward thrust of the Wolf. He was demanding, unapologetic, and thoroughly the feral male he had presented himself as. She matched him best she could, bringing her hips backwards against him like a wanton seductress. She lifted the upper part of her body from the ground, hands leaving the earth to reach behind her and grab at her lover.

His own hands worshiped and grabbed, rubbing all the right places to set her on fire as they brought their bodies together in delicious depravity on the forest floor. The Wolf centered his mouth on her shoulders and neck, leaving love bites and small bruises along her fair white skin. She would show the world, whether she knew it or not, just what had happened here. He was making sure.

"Please!" Bella screamed out of anguish as she was so close, so _very_ close to release. The Wolf could scent it, feel it, and knew without a doubt that she was becoming undone. He smiled into her neck as he thrust again, harder this time. She screamed out another moan.

"Beg for what you want, Bella." The Wolf licked directly under her ear again, moving to ghost over the mark. "What is it you want?"

"You! All of you! Inside me, on me. I want to be yours, completely and unbreakably!" She was rambling in her insane need again, though the Wolf would not forget a single word she was speaking in her near-gone moments. He had planned, planted the seed and brought this to fruition. "Let me cum, please. Cum with me, in me. I _need_ you."

 _That_ was what Cheveyo had been waiting for. He brought a single hand down to where they came together and found the small bundle of nerves at her peak, pressing his thumb against it in unrelenting circles timed with his thrusts. Her quivering became faster, her bucking against him more wild. She was like a dying woman, needing and giving. He took all she offered and gave just as good as she in return.

Feeling her impending orgasm, his thrusts slowed but became more demanding. Her cries were screamed to the sky as time seemed to slow, the trees rustled in the light breeze. This moment was about them, only them, and only in this place.

"Come for me." The Wolf rumbled into her neck as she began to break into the shattering orgasm he had built within her. Recognizing the moment, and feeling his own begin, the Wolf brought his mouth over the mark on her throat. He carefully transitioned the barest amount of his body, his eyes becoming larger and more wolf-like, his teeth purely lupine with no humanity left.

He bit down against her fragile skin and relished in the blood that came forth, the coppery taste not lasting long as he licked the wound and thrust one final time with a growl. Their combined orgasms rocked the pair for long moments, her moans breaking the air like glass. He kept his mouth on the mark as he held her close to him, cementing their beings as one in a glowing moment of brilliance.

Their souls intertwined and writhed around the other as they came back to the ground together. Cheveyo relinquished his hold on his and Paul's shared body, the man grasping hold and still swearing to never allow his wolf reigns again- though both knew that he could not keep such promises.

"Bella." Paul gasped against her hair, she perked up knowing it was her Paul- not the wolf. He was back to her, and she prayed to the Spirits he wasn't going to run away again.

"Paul, stay." She whispered as she began to fall asleep there, naked amongst scraps of her clothing. The breeze settled again, water singing a sweet lullaby to them as it rose and fell, dipped and trickled. "Please stay."

"I'm never leaving again, my love." Paul responded as Bella relaxed into a well-earned, much needed, sleep. He could feel her muscles relax against him as he breathing slowed, knowing the exact moment she fell asleep. Smiling into her hair, remembering her words that she had said. It was a poem, if he remembered correctly.

Yes, Fire and Ice. Robert Frost.

Paul's thoughts began to fade away as he, too, was claimed by the sweet relief of a long deserved rest. He had not slept well since he had left her behind, and now that he was with her the exhaustion finally took hold.

"I love you, Bella Swan." Paul said in a hushed tone, the undertones of Cheveyo breaking through in a light growl. He pulled the girl closer as she shivered in his sleep. Another growl, a single word. " _ **Ours.**_ "

* * *

 _ ***A/N:** I am back again. My health kind of got in the way and I was in no shape to write and continue this story. Even with the chapters pre-written and mostly finished- they would have come out sounding like garbled shite. I do apologize and would like to let my readers know that I am back and will be updating more frequently. If I do disappear for a few days its because of procedures or medications. I want to be of sound mind while writing this- as I do all my writing._

 _Thank you to **all** of those who have reviewed or messaged me privately. I am sorry that I cannot respond personally to all of you but know that I read every one of your messages and to those that I do love hearing from you!_

 _Thank you so much for making this such an amazing experience for me as a writer._


	53. Good Mornings

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

Paul awoke before dawn, the memories of the night before drifting in and out of his mind as he watched the stars above. Bella was still and sleeping in his arms, he didn't move for fear of waking her and breaking the spell that this place had cast over them. The night was fading, however, and dawn would come soon enough.

Looking around at their surroundings, and their stark nakedness, Paul decided to hell with it and carefully extracted himself from Bella to stand. Walking a short distance away, he leaned in close to the tree Bella had taken her desperate rage out on the night before. It had flecks of her blood on it from where her skin had torn, the scent of it sent the Wolf into a short rage- it was a reminder of his failure to his mate.

He _had_ run away, as Bella was quick to remind him last night.

Last night.

The memory of her attempting to stand up to Cheveyo, her defiance and refusal in submission to the large and dominating wolf… it had made Paul proud. She had all but told him, because she had obviously thought he was in control, to shove it up his ass. She had guts, and while he wanted to strangle her for trying to set off his Wolf he couldn't… She had a right, in a way.

 **Cheveyo:** _For someone so against her submission, you enjoyed it much more than you want to say. Didn't you?_

 **Paul:** _Whether I enjoyed it or not doesn't mean shit. You coerced her, using sex. You got what you wanted from her by bringing her high and then hanging her there. Kind of unfair, don't you think?_

 **Cheveyo:** _And how would_ _ **you**_ _have done it?_

 **Paul:** _I wouldn't have._

 **Cheveyo:** _And that is the difference between us, human. You are timid where I could care less for hesitation._

 **Paul:** _Go away, Wolf. Let me have this time with Bella. Look at her, damn it. Did you_ _ **intend**_ _to leave her covered in… our… love bites? Those are going to be visible for weeks. And she literally reeks of our scent._

 **Cheveyo:** _What better way to mark an imprint than one that takes consistent repetition? She did not shy away, Brother, she was there with us- deliciously there with us. But I will 'go away,' if it makes you feel better._

Paul could almost feel the Wolf go back into his hiding place, barely under the surface but still- no longer in the foreground of their consciousness. Paul had spent the last few weeks becoming accustomed to his Wolf… to Cheveyo… being there. He still didn't want to accept him, however.

Paul couldn't get past his pride.

Turning back to his mate, Paul decided to get her out of the cold. She was beginning to shiver from the loss of his heat and he worried about her getting sick from the damp air. His curiosity over what she had done before his Wolf had led him to her would have to wait for later- her health came first.

She would always come first.

Paul grimaced as he scooped Bella into his arms, she barely stirred at the jostling. Th sickening feelings deepened as he held her close, taking inventory of the bruises his Wolf had left all over her body. There were hand prints on her hips that matched his long fingers perfectly, bites and bruises along her fair skin that matched his teeth- Paul was torn between wanting to vomit and wanting to figure out a way to rip into his Wolf.

 _You enjoyed it too._ His traitorous mind brought a growl to his lips, he suppressed it to the best of his abilities, however, not wanting to wake the girl in his arms.

Continuing instead with his inventory of her, Paul began to see things that weren't his fault. Her eyes were sunken, dark, and had circles beneath them that looked like weeks in the making. She was also thinner than normal- she felt as though she didn't weigh anything and he could count her ribs perfectly. She wasn't unhealthily thin, not yet anyway. Her skin seemed sallow, her hair dull. Paul was almost sure that if she opened her eyes they would be dead and lack life or laughter- the warmth he had come to know from them would be gone.

Had he done this?

Why hadn't he seen this last night?

 _You didn't want to._ Paul growled for real this time, annoyed at his intruding thoughts. He _always_ wanted to know if something was wrong with his mate, there was never a time when he wasn't worried about or for her. She was his world, his love- his entire existence.

"Paul…" Bella whimpered in her sleep, stirring from the rumbles in his chest as he walked with her. "Don't… please… don't leave…"

Her sleeping whispers were enough to shatter what little calm he still had and he sped his pace up. Breaking the clearing through bushes and trees he found himself not far from his house, which was surprising as he knew he had been about half a mile away when he had entered the clearing. Did the magic that created their place allow them to come and go from anywhere?

It seemed that way.

Opening the door with one hand and shutting it softly behind him Paul moved to the stairs. His house smelled muted of himself with a lingering scent, stronger so, of Bella. It was a calming thing, and it did help to bring his mind back to earth before the shivers of a Phase began to take over. He didn't want to wake her yet, she was exhausted and needed the sleep for sure.

Bounding up the stairs three at a time Paul shut the door to the bedroom. It looked like it had the day before he left, the bed unmade and wrinkled. His clothes still on the floor where he'd dropped them before showering. Her scent was here too, catching him off guard. Paul made a mental note to ask her why she had been in his bedroom while he was gone.

He lay Bella in his bed as softly as he could, wrapping her in the sheets and even reaching into the chest at the foot for the comforter that came with the silvery sheet set. He never used it- running a rather sweltering 108 made him not need anything more than the sheet and even that was for modesty purposes more than actual heat retention.

His Pack brothers were well known for just barging in on people. Not that he hadn't accidently walked in on them but they had interrupted _many_ post-coitus rests and he had gotten damn sick of them commenting on his penchant for sleeping 'dick out' as Jared had called it. Smart mouthed bastards the lot of them.

Paul didn't climb into bed with Bella. He didn't feel right, as much as he wanted to hold her. His hair was shaggy, longer than normal from being away as a wolf for weeks. He was dirty and felt like someone had slowly coated him in layers of grime. And though he didn't personally have an issue with being sweaty or dirty from a hard day's work, this was different on so many levels. A shower would clean him up, and he could shave his hair down afterwards.

Gently stroking his fingers down Bella's cheek before turning away he smiled at her sleeping form. She was so innocent like this and with the blankets covering the bites, bruises, and cuts he could feel a little better looking at her fragile form. The obvious signs of exhaustion and weight loss were still rather present in her face but those would fix themselves with sleep and a decent meal or two.

Keeping the door to the bathroom cracked, though not fully open, Paul turned the water on to what would be scalding hot to anyone but a wolf. Looking at himself in the mirror he growled at the ragged and decimated appearance that was looking back. His cheek bones were prominent, eyes sunk and darkened, his usually even toned skin was blotched and seemed too pale to his eyes.

"You look like shit." Paul said to himself as he grabbed his shaver from the cabinet and decided to hell with it, he was shaving his hair down _before_ his shower. He couldn't stand feeling so damn shaggy and he wasn't even furry currently. "Smooth, Lahote, real fucking smooth."

The humming of the shaver was a calming thing to Paul, it brought him back to his surroundings and reminded him that he _was_ home. For some reason his mind kept going back to the woods, to the cold nights long with running and longer so with distance. Paul leaned back just enough to look through the crack in the open door- he need to know that Bella was there, that she existed.

That she wasn't a figment of his imagination.

After getting rid of most of the hair, cutting it back to being an inch or so long at best, Paul turned and got into the blisteringly hot shower. His skin would still burn, the redness would come and go with neither scarring or disfigurations of any kind. The upside of being a supernatural being, he supposed.

Reaching for his shampoo with a heavy sigh, Paul poured a small amount into his palm and began lathering it into his now much shorter hair. The feeling of the slick soap between his fingers was nice, and coupled with the warmth of the air in the shower and the feeling of his soft hair- it was like ecstasy compared to living as a wolf for weeks on end.

The feeling of ripping flesh open with his teeth and trying to swallow raw meat was _not_ a memory he would lose soon. And it was one he desperately wished to rid himself of immediately.

Bella awoke to the warmed damp air. With a yawn and a half-awake stretch; she came to a sudden, tense, wakefulness as the realization that not only was she _not_ outside but she was _in_ someone's bed caused her heart to race for long moments.

The smell of Paul permeated the space, even though his tell-tale warmth was nowhere to be found in the blankets of the bed. Sounds of a shower told Bella that he hadn't let her, which was something that she feared and wasn't against admitting it.

Bella rolled to look at the half-open door to the bathroom. Steam was pouring into the bedroom in waves, like a sauna at a gym. She half-wondered how Paul was standing to be in the kind of temperatures that would _make_ that much steam, remembering finally that he ran a temperature of around 108.

He probably didn't even feel it.

 _Lucky bastard_. Bella thought with a sly grin as she slunk out of the bed as silently as she could. Bella realized that Paul would literally have to be paying _no_ attention whatsoever to his surroundings to not hear her, but she liked to believe that she could catch him by surprise at least once.

Surprisingly comfortable in her nudity, Bella, usually shy, sauntered across the bedroom and to the door. It was cracked _just enough_ to where she could slide in without opening it any further, a smile cracked across her face as she scooted into the room.

Paul was currently in the 'rinse and repeat' phase of conditioning the little hair he had and didn't notice a damn thing- until the squeaking of the temperature knob scared him into a full jump. Opening his eyes Paul thanked every Spirit listening that his curtain was _not_ see-through, or Bella would have gotten to see just how badly she had gotten the jump on him.

It's the small things, apparently.

After adjusting the water to a temperature she found tolerable, Bella stepped into the space with Paul. The two looked at each other with wary eyes- too much had happened and too little time had been spent trying to fix the underlying problems.

Bella's eyes screamed of betrayal, pain, and heartache. Paul's could have written a book on possession, territorial instincts, and barely kept rage- all tinged by the sadness of such distance for so long. Paul opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off by Bella with a slender hand over his mouth.

Reaching up on her tip-toes she began to run her fingers through his conditioner slick hair. She was massaging his scalp he realized quickly, in response he knelt to allow the shorter girl easier access to his head. The feeling of his mate's hands in his hair was something that Paul would relish until the end of time- even if it was also something he would _never_ let the guys know about. He'd never live it down.

 _Mine._ Paul thought as Bella changed tactics and used a single hand while reaching behind her to grab the extendable showerhead. In silence, she rinsed his hair and he closed his eyes; tilting his head towards the sky with a pleasurable sigh as she continued her ministrations.

Once his hair was rinsed she returned the showerhead to its stationary position. Bella looked around for soap and a cloth but was distracted by Paul's lips and tongue on her stomach. He traced her skin with all the precision of a professional- her knees grew weak and began to shake. Bringing his arm up around her thighs, Paul continued his assault on her lily-white yet bruised skin with teeth and tongue. His kisses were hot, as was the deliciously slow torture that was the trailing fingers of his free hand.

Standing in a crisp movement Paul took Bella into his arms, her legs wrapping almost naturally around his waist. They fit together like puzzle pieces, perfectly matched in their unspoken needs and wants. Both knew that talking had to happen, that there was too much going on between them to keep silent. Both knew that, Tribal law or otherwise, they needed to figure out what _they_ were- needed to compromise on things, and learn each other in ways that neither had foreseen.

But those talks could wait. Their conversation now had no spoken words. It was the orchestra of trailing fingers, teeth, tongue, and interlocked bodies.

Talking could come later, now it was about them. About healing the holes that distance caused in their hearts.

* * *

Jake and Leah woke wrapped together so tightly it should have hurt. Their limbs twisted like ivy crawling up a tree, but the closeness was comforting in the dim morning light that drift through the windows of the run-down cabin.

"I didn't even know this place still existed." Jake said with a croaking voice, his throat dry from sex and sleep. Leah leaned just enough to grab a bottle of liquid, juice from the sugary taste, before he continued. "I thought your dad had torn this place down years ago."

"He wanted to." Leah replied casually as she ran her fingers up and down Jake's tattooed arm. She thought about the fight she had with her father over this little cabin in the woods. It had minimal comforts, indoor plumbing literally being the only 'modern' thing about it. There was no electricity, the heating system was a woodstove in the biggest of the three rooms that made up the space. It was old, years and years old- but Leah had grown up taking trips to this place. It felt more like home to her than anywhere she'd ever been.

Until she looked at Jake, however. And then even this sanctuary seemed so empty without him in it. Now, however, it was complete.

"You stop him?" Jake mumbled a smile into Leah's neck as she responded to the ghost of his breath there. His tongue traced the line of her throat with tender touches, pulling back enough to await her answer.

"Y-yea." Leah's voice shook as she stuttered a little. The usually calm and collected Leah Clearwater was edgy, her mind still on the connection of her and Jake's bodies. This was something that, while it was comfortable and felt _right_ … it would take adjustment.

"I'm happy you did." Jake nipped at Leah's earlobe as his hand came up between them to caress her naked breast. "Otherwise this would have been _really_ awkward for everyone back at _either_ of our houses."

"Mm… Yes… _So_ awkward." Leah moaned softly as Jake continued to press and caress. He was almost _too_ good at this, especially for someone she _knew_ had never had practice. The upside of the pack mind, knowing who was good in bed or not.

Well, if you were a guy. For Leah the perk was knowing that Jacob Black had only fantasized before her. It was a powerful feeling, knowing she was his first.

Hoping with her entire heart he felt the same way she did- and that she would also be his last.

"Jake, I-" Leah tried to talk but was silence by his mouth claiming hers again as he pressed himself against her, the contact creating torturous friction and heat.

"Shh, Leah." Jake whispered against her lips. "Look at me." Leah opened her eyes to the dark stare of Jake. Moments passed in silence between the two, lifetimes worth of communication passing through only their eyes. Finally, Jake opened his mouth again- a small smirk playing along his features. "I did too."

That was all Leah needed, the unspoken reassurance and the spoken realizations. Claiming Jake again with her mouth, rolling the two of them to where she topped him. He looked beautiful in the dawn light, arms now resting behind his head as he panted up at her.

If it hadn't been for the gyrating motion of his hips Leah would have assumed he was resting. Her eyes widened and narrowed again at the movements and heat.

In the back of their minds they knew that the Pack would expect them today, as everyone always gathered for breakfasts on Saturday and Sunday- but that didn't matter yet. Nothing mattered outside of this room, outside of them.

Moments of peace were preciously few, and they were going to grasp at what they could.

The Pack could wait.

* * *

Sam sat at his table with Jared, both nursing cups of coffee and a muffin. Emily had been awake with the sun as usual and was working on a breakfast for her family. She was worry cooking and Sam knew it- especially since Bella had never returned the night before.

"Are you positive she wasn't at his house when you checked?" Sam asked Jared as calmly as he could, given the circumstances.

"Her scent was there, and then it ran into the woods. It disappeared, though. Just like ours do when we go to the Keeper." Jared replied after swallowing a hearty amount of muffin. "I didn't look further because of another scent I found."

"Paul's back?" Sam cocked an eyebrow as the cogs in his head began to turn. This was not something he had expected and if Paul had found _Bella_ in the woods _alone_ … especially after their fight and the subsequent distance… He shuddered visibly at the thought of what the Wolf inside Paul would do if it was given even half the chance to do it.

"He won't hurt her," Emily's voice broke the tension between the two men, her arms laden with more baked goods that she laid out on the table. She was setting places for everyone, Paul included. She had done this since he left, but today she had hope that he would actually be there to eat from the plate.

"If he does I'll _kill_ him." Jared bared his teeth with a growl, a shudder running over his shoulders like a ghost. Kim immediately got up from where she'd been sitting in the living room to take a seat next to her mate.

"Shh." Kim cooed in his ear before speaking normally. "Don't talk like that. Paul is your Brother, and Bella is his imprint. He won't hurt her."

"Just saying." Jared replied half-assed before throwing back the rest of the coffee. A thought hit his mind and he asked a question that had been bugging him. "Why the hell do we even drink this? It's not like a cup worth of caffeine is going to dos shit to us."

Sam looked up in shock. He opened his mouth only to close it again, and repeated the action no less than three times before he was actually able to get a word out.

"I… I have no idea." Sam looked like someone had just questioned his entire being by questioning his coffee.

"Habit, dear." Emily butt in as she refilled his and Jared's cups. "You've always drank coffee according to Joshua and Leah."

The door opened to reveal a sweating Embry and Quil- both boys had just gotten off their shifts on patrol. Upon looking at Sam they both had some _seriously_ wide eyes. Jared and Sam looked at the two with eyebrows cocked in a questioning look but no one said anything.

"Umm… Morning?" Embry was trying for a normal tone of voice and failed miserably. "Everyone else should be along soon…"

"Everyone else?"

"Well, Seth said he was going to go get Leah- she's out at their old cabin again. And we… uh… we kind of… we interrupted Bella and Paul." Quil was sputtering, talking so fast that even with their wolf hearing it was hard to understand.

"I'm assuming it was at a time you should have learned to _knock_." Emily chastised them.

"Not really. We didn't get too close to the house. But _damn_ can Bella scream when she wants to." Embry grabbed a muffin and tried to hide the blush from his cheeks to no avail. Quil was doing the same and was failing just as spectacularly.

Sam and Jared broke out into righteous laughter at the sight of the two younger wolves and their attempts to hide their obvious discomfort. Whether it was at knowing what Paul and Bella were doing or _hearing_ Bella in such a way was a mystery- but the laughter was a welcome thing to the house as even Emily and Kim joined in, and the girls were usually quick to stop the embarrassment of their fellow imprints.

Seth came in during the laughter, face paler than normal and very much also blushing. A territorial growl built for a moment in Sam's throat as he thought about just _where_ Seth had just come from. Emily and his imprint or not- Sam did still feel for Leah. And the thought of Leah in the arms of another man was still something that could bring a heat to his blood.

"Yea. I need tea. And a muffin." Seth reached over Sam to grab the food and meandered into the kitchen to get his drink. "This is so _not_ what I signed up for."

"Did any of us sign up?" Embry laughed sardonically.

That brought another roil of laughter up through everyone's throats as the tension in the room began to settle into a vibe of normalcy again. Not that the Pack had a true 'normal,' and even if they did it would be very much their own.

* * *

Bella's head was resting on Paul's chest, her legs straddling his hips delicately. They had moved from the shower to the bed some time ago, and she was well worn out again from the activities that had ensued not even fifteen minutes prior. Paul, Bella was half-sure, was almost asleep.

He wasn't, though his breathing and still figure would give the feeling that he was. Paul was deep in thought, his arms wrapped tightly around Bella's waist as she lay on him and drew shapes on his side with her fingertips.

The contact was so intimate, so loving in its nature, that Paul found himself sinking into the touch that Bella was giving him. He relished it, lived in it. The weeks away felt like nothing more than a bad dream with her fingers dancing across his skin.

"I've gotta get back to Sam's." Bella mumbled to herself as she went to sit, only to be stopped by the clenching of Paul's arms around her. Looking down at his face in surprise she squeaked. "I thought you were asleep…"

"Asleep or not, you're not going anywhere." Paul growled a little as Cheveyo fought his way to the surface- the thought of their mate leaving them in secret setting off so many alarms in their shared consciousness.

"I was going to wake you, Paul." Bella rolled her eyes and ducked the arms to slide off him. " _We_ **should** go to Sam's, together. Whether you decide to go or not I _have_ to get back there soon. We have breakfast every Saturday and Sunday morning- every weekend now for almost four weeks. I don't need Jake, Jared, and Sam coming to find me with a vengeance… they hover enough as it is."

She walked over to Paul's dresser and grabbed out a shirt, realizing quickly that she was screwed when it came to underwear of any kind- hers were shredded somewhere in the forest. Rifling through the drawers she looked for something, anything, that could be used as _pants_ and she found salvation in a pair of obviously-too-small-for-Paul elastic gym shorts. It would be weird to not wear panties or anything, but it was the best she was going to get.

Turning as she put the shirt on Bella jumped to find Paul standing directly in front of her again. He was looking at her skin, eyes trailing over the bites and bruises his Wolf had left the night before- the same bites and bruises he had just spent over an hour worshiping with his lips and teeth.

"I can't believe I did this." Paul whispered, lifting the shirt up on Bella's side to reveal the hand-shaped darkness that perfectly matched his hand. He choked a bit on his breath as he placed his palms over the bruises, Bella wincing a little at the contact. "They're going to kill me."

"Paul," Bella made him look her in the eye by placing her hands on the side of his face. "I was _right there_ with you. Did you hear me complain? Did you hear me tell you to stop? Did I run away?"

"No. No. And, no." Paul mumbled softly, looking down again. Bella leaned up and kissed his cheek gently.

"Then don't worry about it. I won't let them murder you for something that felt so _damn_ good." Bella let her hands trail down Paul's face and chest, eventually around his abdomen as she walked past him. He stood stock still for a moment before turning to her, his eyes darkened but also shocked. "What?"

"Never imagined you having a kinky side."

"You have absolutely _no_ idea." Bella replied with a laugh and a wink as she slipped the shorts on. She tightened them as she walked to the door and began to go down the stairs, calling over her shoulder. "Hurry up, wolf boy, or I'm leaving you here."

* * *

Jacob and Leah found themselves meandering to Sam's house a short while after waking up. They had both run to Jake's house first because of his lack of useable clothing. Billy seemed surprised to see his son walk up not only naked but with Leah Clearwater on his arm, though the older man knew better than to say anything to the two of them about it.

Wolf relationships were as they were, and though Billy had once been able to be a Protector his time to join the Pack had long since come and gone. It was a burden that Billy had been happy not to bear, though he was greatly saddened by his son having to carry it in his stead.

Sometimes life was funny that way. And the Spirits could be just as trick filled as they were giving, just a cruel as they were nice.

"Sam is going to kill me." Jake groaned as they walked through the woods as humans. The wolves could have run faster but Jake and Leah weren't in a hurry to get to where they were going. Seth had left them not even an hour before and both were _sure_ that Sam would know by now.

"Let him try, Jake." Leah replied nonchalantly. "You're technically the born Alpha, you're stronger than him if you accept that responsibility and you'll be able to beat him easily."

"I'd rather not. Not with the threat to us and Bella on the horizon. We need an Alpha with experience for the upcoming fight, and I don't want to split the Pack with this." Jake stopped and looked at Leah, grabbing her hands in his own. "I don't know what we are, Leah, but know that I am not ashamed or angry to have imprinted on you. You are a strong woman, an intelligent woman. I know that Sam… I know that what happened hurt you, and I know that deep down you're still hurting… But-"

Leah put her palm over Jake's mouth to stop him from rambling more than he already had, a smile lit across her features at his surprised look to her. His 'huh' was muffled and almost undiscernible but she waited for him to take a breath before talking.

"I hurt, yes. Sam and that whole awkward situation hurt. But this is now, _we_ are now. And we can work out whatever we are together. Do you hear me? _Together."_ Leah kissed the back of her hand, where his mouth was, as a joke before turning away from him with a laugh.

Jake stood still for a few seconds in stunned silence before shaking his head and catching up with his imprint. Whatever they were, or could be, they would figure it out together.

And that was okay with him.

* * *

 _A/N: Yes, I know. This is a cut-up fluff chapter but the next one will have a little more meat in it. Not back to the drama, surprisingly, just a little more wolfpack time before we continue on with the plot and the drama/stress involved with that._

 _I hope you enjoyed this chapter and that I didn't make it **too** close to LEMONS without proper warnings. Honestly, I felt that I managed to make it loving/sensual without making it straight smut._

 _Thanks to all of my readers and I hope to see you again soon!_


	54. Tense Reunions Part One

****** Disclaimer: I do NOT own the recognizable events, characters, or places in this story. Characters and events, as well as the Twiverse, belong to Stephanie Meyer. Forks, Port Angeles, and other real places belong to themselves, their own entities. ******

* * *

Bella and Paul ran into the straggling Jake and Leah as they walked down one of the many paths to Sam's house. Paul had opted to phase and be a 'noble steed' as Bella had jokingly called him so he could run to his pack leader's house. Jake and Leah apparently both had the same idea, as it hadn't taken long for him to feel them in his head. They beelined to him once they realized he was there and responsive- something no one had felt for weeks now.

 **Jake:** _Long time, Brother._

 **Leah:** _Very. And you seem ragged, too thin. You smell differently too. How far away from our territory did you go?_

 **Paul:** _Miles beyond our border, but it was… worth it in a way. I have a lot to talk to the Pack about concerning us, our wolves, and the connections within all of that. Things that either the council have been keeping from us or didn't know themselves._

 **Jake:** _I don't know about the Council anymore, Paul. While we have not outright defied them since the last time… I'm pretty sure they're not going to just give up… especially Old Quil and the widow Akil. They seem dead set on whatever their goal is…_

 **Leah:** _You'll be chief someday. And that council will change, quite a few of us will actually inherit seats on to it. Things will change with us._

 **Jake:** _I hope so. Anyway… How is she holding up? She was in pretty rough shape last night… And I can literally smell you on her, and the blood pooling beneath her skin._

 **Paul:** _Before you rip me to shreds please notice that she's fine with it. Do you sense fear of any kind? Anger? Hurt? I can't and she's my mate for the love of everything, so that means you shouldn't feel it either._

 **Leah:** _This is the calmest I've seen her in weeks. She's content, although she is staring at us rather oddly._

"You know, having a conversation that one of us can't here is kind of rude…" Bella remarked as she looked down at the three wolves. She could tell they'd been speaking, it was a gut feeling she had. She swore, on her life _swore_ , that she'd almost been able to hear it.

The wolves laughed in their headspace, the chuckles coming out of their physical forms in a near mirthful growling noise. The vibrations were calming to Bella, she leaned into them and hugged Paul around his large and furry neck.

"Do you think you guys could turn back? We're close enough to Sam's… it's not much further and I'd like to be able to talk to you too…" Bella pouted, pulling at the heartstrings of the wolves. However, they merely shook their heads. Leah leaned up and gave Bella a rather large and wet lick up the side of her face. "That was all kinds of disgusting, Leah. But point taken. I can talk to you when we get there." The girl returned to silence as the wolves returned to their conversation.

 **Paul:** _What is the current plan? I know that leech must still be after Bella… and I've smelled more activity in the area during my run back than I ever have before. Seattle, Port Angeles, Olympia… They all literally reeked of blood suckers._

 **Jake:** _She has been working on that ability of hers. It tires her out and she doesn't stand a chance against multiple leeches at a time, but it is something for her to work with. The Cullens, or… well, the Whitlock-Hale coven has called a few friends to them. Jasper, the southern one, has quite a few ideas on what our plans should be and what to expect as this shitstorm unfolds._

 **Leah:** _Only Bella would manage to draw this much crap to herself. I mean, I love the girl and all but… damn… this is kind of ridiculous and just poor planning on whatever being made her fate._

 **Jake:** _No kidding._

 **Paul:** _She was telling me a little about the plans that you have been working on… about the training with the… the Whitlock-Hale coven… She and I still have a lot to talk about but she seems stronger than she was when I left- like a beacon of radiating power._

 **Leah:** _I've noticed it too, and I asked mom and dad for some of the older records of the Pack but unfortunately that's Joshua Uley's territory and I don't think he'd enjoy me sauntering into his office for things like that._

 **Jake:** _You're Pack, though. And he's our historian. Honestly, I'm curious anyway- and dad has been telling me to 'get into the Chief mindset' recently because I'm growing up and all of that horse shit… So, how about we go to Joshua together tomorrow? The records are something I should know as a Chief and we need information now more than ever._

 **Paul:** _Has anyone thought to go to the Keeper about this?_

 **Jake:** _Sam tried a week or so ago. No one but us wolves know about it- so don't tell Bella if you can help it._

 **Paul:** _And? What did she say?_

 **Sam:** _She said that the One Who Will Know must ask the question, the right question. And only when that question is asked will everything fall into place._

 **Jake:** _Are we sure she isn't senile as well as blind? I mean… We've known about her legend for a long time now and I can remember as a kid thinking about how she was different… Can't any of you remember thinking that she just lived in the forest? We know more now but… is it possible whatever magic has kept her alive this long has also kind of made her… well… crazy?_

 **Sam:** _We can talk about that later. It is nice to see you home, Paul. I phased in to see where the people missing at breakfast were and it seems you've come back._

 **Paul:** _I did._

Paul bristled a little, a physical action that caught the attention of Bella. She gently soothed her hand over his fur as he continued to walk. They were nearing Sam's house now and it would soon be time to leave his warmth. She looked up and saw Sam among the trees. His form was large, though only slightly larger than Jake's now.

She wondered if Jake would ever take the Alpha role. She knew he didn't want more responsibility, especially now as a kid… but… he was meant to be the Alpha. It was something he couldn't run from forever. Bella wondered if she should talk to her best friend about it- but she immediately shook the idea away. Someday, maybe, but not now.

The three wolves stopped at the sight of their Alpha. Sam was tense but uncoiled, waiting. There was something more to him being here and in wolf form than he'd let on. The air became dense as he looked at them, his eyes resting for a moment longer on Paul and then on Bella.

 **Sam:** _Paul, I must talk to you. Alone, preferably._

 **Paul:** _Sam… I haven't even been back a full day. Can't this wait? At least until after breakfast?_

 **Sam:** _No._

There was an order in that single word. Paul nodded his great head and walked forward, dropping Bella off his shoulders directly in front of Sam before backing down a few paces and sitting in wait. Leah and Jake hesitated, unsure of what to do. A scathing look from their Alpha sent them both into the trees to phase before running into the house.

"What?" Bella seemed confused as she looked from Sam to Paul, worry lines knitting their way across her face. "Sam… You aren't going to be mean to him… are you?" She looked up at the great black wolf. "If you cause him to leave again I swear to everything that not only will I be very mad at you but… I will never bake you anything ever again!"

Sam's frame began to shake with the wolf equivalent of laughter. He tried, he really did, to remain stoic and passive but there was something about this little slip of a woman threatening him that made him just break down into laughter.

"You'd better be nice." Bella said as she reached up, Sam knelt a little for her benefit. Wrapping her arms around his neck, she gave him a hug. Sam snuffed at her hair when she released him, scenting her in his own way. "Don't be too long… Emily and I shouldn't be forever in making breakfast…"

And with that, Bella walked away to leave Paul and Sam to whatever it was they were going to do.

* * *

"Hey Emily, sorry for being late! I hope you haven't spent too much time alone…" Bella was quick to say her hellos as she rushed into the kitchen to grab an apron and help her friend with the food. This had become a routine for them, cooking for the Pack every weekend and spending time together as one big family. They weren't conventional by any means, but they were a family.

"Not at all, Bella. I've gotten the eggs whisked and just started on meats. What do you want to take over today?" Emily gave a big smile, her eyes bright and alive in the morning. Bella was always so curious as to how the older woman seemed so cheery all the time- she'd never been a morning or a night person really.

"Wherever you need me." And with that the two women fell into a comfortable silence, closed into their own little world within the homey kitchen. They would remain that way until either their mates interrupted them or the food was done, and the rest of the Pack knew better than to interrupt the cooking process.

"So… how is he? He looked like shit from what we could see but Emily wouldn't exactly let us peer out the windows… said it was creepy." Embry was curious, and the first one to talk. Jared smacked him upside the head in what he thought was a gentle manner, it did nothing to quiet the younger teen. "He does, Jared. Looks ragged as fuck."

"Whether or not he does it doesn't mean you have to call it out like that, you complete idiot." Jared rolled his eyes. Pups would be the death of him, he swore. Getting too old too quickly was going to kill him too- but he ignored that. "But we are all curious… How is he?"

"He's… different. He seems almost… wiser?" Leah looked to Jake with questioning eyes, hoping beyond everything that her mate would help her with this.

"Something happened to him up there, wherever he was. He's calmer now, like… you can literally _feel_ something different about him. He's just as dangerous, just as tense but… it's like he has a different control of it now. And I can't put my finger on what it is." Jake shrugged and leaned around his mate to grab a muffin. He looked down at the food and picked it apart, eating it in pieces.

"That makes no sense. How does he seem physically?" Jared pressed a little more, wanting more information about his Pack brother.

"He's lost some weight for sure. But his tone… He's gotten sleek… I don't know how to describe it so why don't you just ask him for fuck's sake?" Jake growled a little, not liking this whole talking about Paul when Paul could completely hear them. He didn't feel like getting his ass kicked later for talking about him in Sam's kitchen.

* * *

 **Sam:** _You know what you did could have torn this Pack apart, right?_

Sam was pacing in front of Paul. His movements were tense without being menacing, but it was clear to the younger wolf that his Alpha meant business with whatever he was about to talk about. The fact that his 'voice' remained calm was shocking to Paul, but he'd take a 'disappointed dad' moment over anger every time.

 **Paul:** _I have no excuses for what I did, Sam. I left because I was a danger to my mate- but leaving made there even more danger. I can't explain why I had to leave, or why I stayed away so long but… I had to. There wasn't anything else I could do, okay?_

Paul sat calmly. He followed Sam with his eyes, turning his head when needed only. He kept his nose down, tilting his entire face towards the forest floor to seem slightly submissive. Sam noticed and was grateful for the action, though he didn't really need it.

 **Sam:** _I realize that. But you can't get out of the fallout from what you've done. I hope you enjoyed your night with Bella because you're going to be running doubles for a long time. You have so much to catch up on, including training to deal with the vampires as well as training to get you back into the Pack._

 **Paul:** _Back into the Pack? What the fuck do you mean by that?_

 **Sam:** _I mean, you moron, is that you left not only your mate but your Pack behind when you went on your anger fueled vacation. They had to pick up_ _ **your**_ _slack, had to deal with_ _ **your**_ _mistakes. Did you really think that Bella wasn't suffering too? We had to see that, watch that, and handle it when it became too much for her. We had to be there. And as much as she is my imprint… She didn't need us. She needed_ _ **you**_ _._

 **Paul:** _I know that, Sam. And like I told Leah and Jake… it wasn't just a vacation. I've realized something while I was gone. The Pack needs to meet as soon as possible, because I think I may have found something out that we aren't even going to find in any of the records._

 **Sam:** _It won't save your ass, but it will help if you found something useful about how to kill bloodsuckers while you were gone._

 **Paul:** _Not about the bloodsuckers. About_ _ **us**_ _. About the wolves, the spirits, and about our ancestors._

 **Sam:** _You've gotten my attention. But so has the smells coming from the house so- meeting immediately after breakfast. The Whitlock-Hale household is covering the borders today. I wasn't sure about it, but trusting them… it's been a good thing for both sides._

 **Paul:** _I'll believe that when they all leave the territory for good._

 **Sam:** _I have to agree. But breakfast really is almost done. I can hear Emily telling Jared to come get us… Like I said, meeting immediately after breakfast… well, after cleanup… and then you can show us what you found out. Hopefully for you, Paul, it's worth the weeks it took you to learn it._

With that, both men walked away from the windows to phase. They said nothing else, as nothing else needed to be said for the moment. Once they were human, and dressed in their cut offs, Sam turned to Paul and looked him over. He was smaller, but his muscles more toned. He looked deadly even as a human, not that he hadn't before.

Paul had changed. His time away had changed him. Sam would just have to wait and see how much. Reaching outward, the men embraced each other's forearms for a moment before turning and walking into the house, a smile slowly stretching across both of their faces.

* * *

 _A/N: Hey everyone! Yes, I know it's been **over a year** since I added anything to this story and I promise that I won't be doing **that** again! I just had some stuff to work on both with my writing and with my personal life. However, thankfully, things have become more balanced recently and I am back with a literal vengeance. I have the entirety of this story written by hand, from this moment to the end, and now I just have to type it up and add some finishing touch edits. There **should** be a chapter a day for a couple weeks on this and my Beltane Bride story so it'll still be a week or two before this story ends. _

_I thank all of you, returning readers and new._

 _With love,_

 _Phoenix._


End file.
